JEWISH  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 


fctbrarp  of  "the  Cheolocjical  Seminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 

•agssD* 


PRESENTED  BY 

John  Stuart  Conning,  D.D. 

DS  143  . P49 

Philipson,  David,  1862-1949 
Old  European  Jewries 


V 

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/ 

* 


OLD  EUROPEAN  JEWRIES 


Old  European  Jewries 


3 


APR  6 


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*2 


BY 


y 


^SICAL  3^ 


DAVID  PH  I  UPSON.  D.  D. 


AUTHOR  OF  “THE  JEW  IN  ENGLISH  FICTION,”  ETC. 


“  By  the  Ghetto’ s  plague, 

By  the  garb's  disgrace ” 

Browning 


pbtla&elpbia 

"Cbc  3cwieb  publication  Society  of  Hmcrica 
1804 


COPYRIGHT,  1894, 


By  the  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America. 


Meyers 

in  ting  and  Publishing  House, 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 


TO  MY  WIFE, 

WHO,  WITH  SYMPATHETIC  INTEREST,  VISITED 
WITH  ME  MANY  OF  THE  PLACES 
HEREIN  MENTIONED, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  LOVINGLY  INSCRIBED. 


PREFACE. 


When,  several  years  ago,  I  planned  a 
trip  abroad,  one  of  my  objects  was  to 
visit  the  remains  of  the  old  Jewish  quar¬ 
ters  in  some  of  the  European  cities.  Be¬ 
fore  that  time,  I  had  determined  to  write 
the  story  of  the  Ghetto,  and  it  occurred 
to  me  that  it  would  add  interest  to  the 
work  if  I  could  supplement  my  studies  by 
a  view  of  the  sites  of  certain  old  Jewries. 
This  I  found  to  be  the  case,  for  memories 
linger  about  these  spots  which  bring  their 
history  vividly  to  mind. 

I  have  limited  myself  to  a  study 
of  the  officially  instituted  Ghetto.  The 
legislation  restricting  Jews  in  the  choice 
of  their  dwelling  places  was  in  a  line 
with  the  general  policy  of  church  and 
state  towards  them  up  to  this  century.  At 

(0 


2 


Preface. 

times,  it  is  true,  Jews  resided  together  in 
separate  portions  of  cities  even  when  they 
were  not  forced  to  do  so  bylaw.  For  the 
formation  of  these  voluntary  Ghettos  there 
were  various  reasons,  which  I  point  out  in 
one  of  the  chapters  of  this  book. 

I  have  included  a  chapter  on  the  Rus¬ 
sian  Pale  of  Settlement,  the  great  modern 
Ghetto,  because  it  is  germane  to  the  sub¬ 
ject.  We  see  the  evils  and  horrors  of  the 
old  Ghetto  repeated  in  our  own  day  in 
these  districts. 

We  can  not  but  stand  amazed  at  the  en¬ 
durance  of  the  Jew  which  enabled  him  to 
triumph  over  the  nameless  woes  which  the 
thought  of  the  Ghetto  suggests.  It  is  one 
of  the  wonders  of  history. 

Cincinnati,  y^/y,  1894. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  Early  Settlements  of  Jews  in  Eu¬ 
rope,  .  5 

II  The  Institution  of  the  Ghetto  .  .  19 

III  The  Ghetto  in  Church  Legislation  35 

IV  The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort-on- 

the-Main  . 46 

V  The  Judenstadt  of  Prague  ....  82 

VI  The  Ghetto  of  Rome  .......  120 

VII  The  Russian  Ghetto . 177 

VIII  Effects  and  Results . 194 

IX  The  Ghetto  in  Literature  ....  220 

Notes . 255 

Index . 269 


CHAPTER  I. 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS  OF  JEWS  IN 

EUROPE. 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
the  Romans  in  the  year  70  C.  E.,  the  Jews 
cast  about  for  new  dwelling  places.  Long 
before  this  event  Jews  had  settled  in 
the  various  capitals  of  the  then  civilized 
world,  in  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Rome,  the 
cities  of  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt.  In  Rome, 
the  influence  of  their  religious  teachings 
became  apparent  as  early  as  76  B.  C.  E.,r 
but  their  settlement  in  considerable  num¬ 
bers  is  usually  dated  from  the  time  of 
Pompey,  the  first  Roman  general  to  enter 
Jerusalem  and  carry  Jews  to  Rome;2 
thereafter,  the  Jewish  colony  received  ad¬ 
ditions  from  time  to  time.  Outside  of 
Rome,  it  is  not  likely  that  there  were 
Jewish  settlements  in  western  Europe  be¬ 
fore  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
although  there  were  traditions  current  in 

(5) 


6  Old  European  Jewries. 

later  days  among  the  Jews  themselves  that 
some  of  their  number  had  settled  in  por¬ 
tions  of  Europe  in  very  early  times.  For 
example,  it  has  been  asserted  that  there 
were  synagogues  in  Germany,  at  Ulm  and 
Worms,  before  the  origin  of  Christianity. 
The  Spanish  Jews  had  a  tradition  that 
there  were  Jews  in  Spain  as  early  as  the 
days  of  King  Solomon.3  But  these  pre¬ 
tensions  cannot  be  established,  and  will 
not  bear  scrutiny.  The  earliest  authentic 
notices  concerning  the  Jews  in  European 
lands  date  from  the  first  Christian  cen¬ 
turies.  Titus,  the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem, 
we  know,  deported  thousands  of  Jewish 
captives  to  the  western  Roman  provinces. 
Many  were  sent  to  Sardinia  to  work  in 
the  mines,  many  remained  in  Rome,  and 
we  have  frequent  notices  of  them  during 
the  reigns  of  succeeding  emperors.  Into 
the  Italian  cities,  they  naturally  drifted 
from  Rome.  As  for  Spain,  the  earliest  au¬ 
thentic  notice  is  by  the  apostle  Paul,  who, 
in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  says : 
“  Whensoever  I  take  my  journey  into 
Spain,  I  will  come  to  you  ;  for  I  trust  to 


7 


Early  Settlements. 

see  you  in  my  journey,  and  to  be  brought 
on  my  way  thitherward  by  you  ;  ”4  and  “  I 
will  come  by  you  into  Spain.”5  Paul,  we 
know,  journeyed  only  to  places  in  which 
Jews  dwelt,  or  in  which  Jewish  teach¬ 
ings  had  been  established,  for  only  those 
acquainted  with  Jewish  doctrines  could 
understand  him.  At  any  rate,  Jews  dwelt 
in  Spain  before  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  for  the  council  of  Illiberis,  held 
in  305,  devoted  four  decrees  to  the  Jews, 
forbiddin  of  the  Christians  to  live  on  inti- 
mate  terms  with  them,  this  showing  that 
there  must  have  been  a  considerable  num¬ 
ber  of  Jews  living  in  Spain  at  that  time. 
Among  these  paragraphs  are  the  follow¬ 
ing  :  If  heretics  are  unwilling  to  join  the 
Catholic  Church,  Catholic  girls  must  not 
be  given  to  them  in  marriage  ;  but  neither 
to  Jews  nor  to  heretics  should  they  be 
given,  because  there  can  be  no  associa¬ 
tion  for  the  faithful  with  the  unbeliever. 
If  parents  act  contrary  to  this  prohibition, 
they  shall  be  cut  off  from  communion  for 
five  years.6 

If,  then,  any  ecclesiastic  or  any  of  the 


8 


Old  European  Jewries, 

faithful  partakes  of  food  with  Jews,  he 
shall  be  deprived  of  communion,  so  that 
this  may  be  corrected.7 

Owners  (of  land)  are  warned  not  to 
permit  their  products  which  they  receive 
from  God  to  be  blessed  by  Jews,  lest  they 
make  our  blessing  useless  and  weak.  If 
anyone  shall  presume  to  do  this  after  this 
prohibition,  he  shall  be  excluded  from  the 
church.8 

These  decrees  definitely  prove  that  there 
were  Jews  in  Spain  as  early  as  300. 

As  for  France,  or  Gaul,  as  the  province 
was  called  in  early  days,  it  is  unknown, 
according  to  Graetz,  when  the  Jews  first 
settled-  there.9  There  is  no  proof  of 
their  residence  prior  to  the  second  cen¬ 
tury. 

Depping,10  arguing  from  the  expressions 
of  Constantine  regarding  the  Jews  of  Co¬ 
logne,  concludes  that  they  may  have  been 
dwelling  in  some  of  the  cities  of  north¬ 
western  Europe  before  the  attention  of 
the  Roman  emperors  was  directed  to  them. 
In  a  law  of  the  Theodosian  code11  (com¬ 
piled  between  425  and  435),  addressed  to 


9 


Early  Settlements . 

the  prefect  of  Gaul,  a  favorable  mention  of 
the  Jews  occurs,  which  would  go  to  prove 
that  they  were  then  firmly  settled,  and  were 
scattered  throughout  Gaul  and  Belgium. 

According  to  tradition,  Jews  settled  in 
Germany  in  hoary  antiquity.  When,  in 
the  time  of  the  crusades,  the  Jews  of 
western  Europe  were  held  responsible  for 
the  death  of  Jesus,  and  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  them  were  slaughtered  by  the 
wild  mobs  on  that  account,  some  tale  had 
to  be  invented  to  disprove  the  charge,  and 
the  Jews  put  forth  the  claim  that  they  had 
had  a  congregation  in  Worms  long  before 
the  time  of  Jesus,  in  fact,  as  early  as  the 
days  of  Ezra,  and  that,  therefore,  they 
were  not  concerned  with  nor  responsible 
for  the  crucifixion.  According  to  another 
tradition,  the  Jews  of  southern  Germany 
were  descendants  of  the  soldiers  who  had 
sacked  J  erusalem.  These  soldiers,  the  Van - 
giones — so  ran  the  story — had  selected 
beautiful  Jewish  women  as  their  portion 
of  the  spoil,  carried  them  to  their  quarters 
on  the  Rhine  and  the  Main,  and  there 
consorted  with  them.  Their  children  were 


io  Old  European  Jewries. 

reared  as  Jews  by  their  mothers,  and  were 
the  founders  of  the  Jewish  communities 
between  Worms  and  M  aye  nee. 12  This, 
however,  is  all  legendary.  The  earliest  reli¬ 
able  notices  of  the  settlement  of  Jews  in 
German  cities  inform  us  that  there  were 
Jews  in  Cologne  in  the  fourth  century,13  in 
Magdeburg,  Merseburg14  and  Ratisbon15  in 
the  tenth,  and  in  Mayence,  Speyer,  Worms 
and  Treves16  in  the  eleventh.  As  for  Nu¬ 
remberg,  one  chronicler  states  that  Jews 
dwelt  there  in  the  year  ioo,  another  makes 
it  as  early  as  46,  but  historical  data  do  not 
justify  us  in  considering  their  residence 
there  as  assured  before  the  time  of  Em¬ 
peror  Henry  IV  in  the  eleventh  century.17 
Undoubtedly,  Jews  did  dwell  in  the  Ger¬ 
man  cities  before  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries,  for  in  those  times  they  were 
present  in  large  numbers,  but  no  earlier 
archives  and  authentic  documents  mention 
them. 

As  for  the  Jews  in  England,  the  first, 
notices  we  have  of  their  presence  in  that 
country  before  the  Norman  conquest  are 
in  the  collections  of  canon  laws  made  by 


Early  Settlements.  1 1 

Theodoras,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  Egbert,  Archbishop  of  York,  for  the 
regulation  of  the  church.  By  these  laws 
the  Jews  are  subjected  to  much  the  same 
prohibitions  as  those  formulated  by  the 
church  councils.  Theodorus  was  arch¬ 
bishop  from  669  to  691,  and  Egbert,  from 
735  to  766.18  There  is  one  more  notice  of 
the  residence  of  Jews  in  England  in  early 
days.  A  document  issued  by  King  Wit- 
glaff,  of  Mercia,  in  833,  confirms  the  right 
of  the  monks  of  the  cloister  of  Croyland 
to  all  the  possessions  given  them  by  earlier 
kings  of  Mercia,  nobles  and  other  faithful 
Christians,  and  also  to  those  received  from 
Jews  as  gift,  pledge  or  otherwise.19 

All  argument  as  to  the  earlier  residence 
of  Jews  in  these  lands  is  necessarily  con¬ 
jectural  ;  it  seems  justifiable  to  conclude 
that  they  settled  wherever  a  home  was  of¬ 
fered  them,  but  until  positive  proofs  are 
produced  to  the  contrary,  we  must  regard 
those  odven  above  as  the  earliest  authentic 

O 

notices.  The  first  settlements  of  Jews 
in  Eurooean  lands  are  still  shrouded  in 

X 

mvsterv.20 


1 2  Old  European  Jewries . 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  crusades  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  Jews  in  Europe  was  bearable. 
There  were  outbursts  of  the  persecuting 
spirit  now  and  then,  notably  in  the  reigns 
of  the  Visigothic  kings  in  Spain  and  the 
Merovingian  in  France  ;  there  were  bitter 
attacks  made  against  them  by  churchmen, 
such  as  Amolo  and  Agobard,  of  Lyons  ; 
but  compared  with  the  fiendish  treatment 
inaugurated  by  the  mobs  on  their  way  to 
Palestine  to  conquer  the  sepulcher  of  their 
Lord,  the  life  of  the  Jews  during  the  first 
ten  Christian  centuries  was  almost  blissful. 
They  were  free  citizens,  could  dwell  wher¬ 
ever  they  liked,  and  were  on  terms  of 
friendship  and  intimacy  with  the  Christian 
population.  If  they  had  not  been,  decrees 
would  not  have  been  passed  by  the  church 
councils  forbidding  such  intimacy.  They 
followed  what  pursuits  they  pleased,  and 
on  the  whole  led  peaceful  lives.  But  with 
the  fanatical  cry  resounding  throughout 
Europe  at  the  time  of  the  crusades  :  “  Ex¬ 
terminate  the  enemies  of  Christ  at  home 
before  fioditincr  against  them  in  the  far 

o  o  o 

East,”  the  terrible  woes  of  the  Jews  began, 


Early  Settlements .  13 

and  the  bloody  chapter  of  the  persecutions 
of  centuries  was  opened.  The  J  ew  was  safe 
nowhere  in  France,  Germany,  England  and 
Austria,  the  countries  especially  affected 
by  the  crusades.  The  mobs,  incited  by 
the  priesthood,  robbed,  plundered,  out¬ 
raged,  murdered,  exterminated.  In  those 
dark  times,  to  protect  the  Jews  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  persecutions  of  the  pop¬ 
ulace  and  the  venom  of  the  priesthood, 
and  to  assure  their  right  of  residence  in 
the  different  cities  and  districts,  the  em¬ 
perors  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  and 
the  kings  of  various  countries  took  them 
under  their  special  protection,  for  pecuni¬ 
ary  considerations,  of  course,  and  the  Jews 
became  the  so-called  servi  camera,  servants 
of  the  chamber,  of  the  emperor  or  king. 
The  idea  gained  ground  that  the  Jews 
were  subject  to  the  emperor  directly,  were 
to  be  protected  by  him  everywhere,  and 
had  to  pay  for  this  protection.  This  ser¬ 
vitude  did  not  mean  that  they  were  slaves 
or  serfs,  with  whose  life  or  goods  the  em¬ 
peror  or  king  could  do  as  he  pleased,  but 
merely  that  they  had  to  pay  tribute  for  his 


1 4  Old  European  Jewries . 

protection.  In  the  end  it  virtually  robbed 
them  of  their  freedom,  since  these  rulers 
did  with  them  much  as  they  wished.  The 
exact  date  of  the  beginning  of  this  re¬ 
lation  cannot  be  determined.  The  em¬ 
perors  pleased  themselves  with  the  fiction 
that  this  subjection  and  protection  began 
with  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus; 
that  the  Jews  came  under  the  protection 
of  the  Roman  emperors  at  that  time,  and 
that,  as  they  were  the  legitimate  succes¬ 
sors  of  the  emperors  of  Rome,  they  ac¬ 
quired  the  rights  of  the  latter.  This  con¬ 
tention  is  not  worthy  of  serious  considera¬ 
tion.  The  servitude  of  the  chamber  was 
a  new  institution,  called  forth  by  the  terri¬ 
ble  calamities  that  befell  the  Jews,  and  was 
at  the  time  welcomed  as  a  boon,  as  almost 
anything  would  have  been  that  promised 
respite  and  deliverance.  Graetz21  says  that 
in  Germany  this  protection  was  systematic¬ 
ally  instituted  in  the  reign  of  Frederick 
Barbarossa.  Henry  IV  protected  them 
in  1103.  Conrad  III,  during  the  second 
crusade,  gave  the  Jews  who  applied  to  him 
for  protection  refuge  in  Nuremberg.  Al- 


*5 


Early  Settlements. 

though  there  are  these  instances  of  pro¬ 
tection  in  the  twelfth,  yet  according  to 
Stobbe22  it  was  only  in  the  thirteenth  cen¬ 
tury  that  the  institution  of  servi  earner ce 
was  established.  In  the  reign  of  Frederick 
1 1,22  the  Jews  are  called  special  servants  of 
the  chamber,  and  in  1246  Conrad  IV  calls 
the  J  ews  of  Frankfort  servi  earner  ce  nostree. 

In  France  and  England,23  a  like  relation 
was  supposed  to  hold  between  the  Jews 
and  the  kings.  This  supposition  of  the 
special  jurisdiction  of  the  emperor  or 
king  over  the  Jews  exerted  a  great  influ¬ 
ence  upon  their  residence  in  various  cities 
and  districts.  Jews  were  looked  upon  in 
one  light  only,  viz.,  as  a  source  of  rev¬ 
enue.  For  example,  in  1407,  Emperor 
Rupert  commanded  that  the  Jews  be  not 
too  heavily  burdened,  lest  they  be  forced 
to  emigrate,  and  the  cities  so  suffer  a  dimi¬ 
nution  of  income;  in  1480,  Frederick  III 
commanded  that  the  Jews  of  Ratisbon  be 
treated  in  such  a  manner  that  they  might 
restore  their  fortunes  in  five  years  to  an 
extent  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  pay  the 
emperor  10,000  gulden.  As  they  were  so 


1 6  Old  European  Jewries. 

great  a  source  of  income,  the  emperor, 
when  in  need,  often  sold  the  Jews  of  a  city 
to  princes,  counts  or  bishops  for  a  stipu¬ 
lated  sum,  with  the  understanding  that 
thereafter  the  purchaser  was  to  enjoy  the 
income  derived  from  taxing  them.  He 
sometimes  even  sold  the  right  to  parties 
not  connected  with  the  government  of 
the  cities  in  which  the  Jews  lived.  For 
instance,  in  1263,  the  Jews  of  Worms 
were  turned  over  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
bishop  of  Speyer;  in  1279,  the  Jews  of 
the  dioceses  of  Strasburg  and  Basle,  to 
the  bishop  of  Basle.24 

Often,  if  the  emperor  owed  money  to 
some  ruler  or  bishop,  he  gave  the  Jews 
over  to  him  for  a  number  of  years,  until 
taxes  equal  to  the  debt  were  collected  ;  or, 
if  he  was  in  need  of  money,  he  borrowed 
it  on  the  same  security  ;  and  if  a  ruler, 
noble  or  priest  was  in  debt  to  the  citizens, 
he  did  the  same.  The  archbishop  of 
Mayence  was  in  debt  to  the  citizens  of  Er¬ 
furt  ;  his  income  from  the  Jews  of  Erfurt, 
whose  protection  or,  in  other  words,  the 
right  to  tax  whom,  had  been  transferred 


Early  Settlements .  1 7 

to  him  by  the  emperor,  was  100  marks  a 
year ;  this  income  he  granted  the  citizens 
of  the  city  for  four  years.  The  emperors 
also  often  sold  to  cities  the  rights  over  the 
Jews.  It  was  the  most  convenient  manner 
of  raising  money.  It  can  be  well  under¬ 
stood  how  all  this  affected  the  residence 
of  the  Jews  in  the  cities.  They  were 
granted  the  right  to  dwell  there,  because 
they  were  sources  of  revenue.  Otherwise 
they  would  not  have  been  tolerated  long. 

The  right  of  residence  in  places  in  which 
they  had  not  yet  dwelt  was  also  a  privilege 
sold  or  granted  by  the  emperor.  It  was, 
indeed,  a  privilege  for  a  ruler  to  have  Jews 
in  his  domain,  for  it  meant  a  certain  in¬ 
come,  and  as  princes  were  always  in  need 
of  money,  this  permission  to  have  Jews 
was  much  sought  for.  The  technical  term 
for  this  permission  was  Judceos  tenereE 
or  Judceos  habere ,  the  right  to  keep  or  to 
have  Jews.  It  can  be  seen  how  precarious 
their  residence  everywhere  was  ;  they  had 
the  right  to  dwell  not  as  men,  but  as  tax¬ 
able  property  on  a  footing  with  all  other 
sources  of  income.  They  had  to  pay  for 


1 8  Old  European  Jewries . 

the  mere  privilege  of  living,  and  even  then 
had  not  the  freedom  to  choose  their  dwell¬ 
ing  place.  For  the  most  part,  a  special 
quarter  was  assigned  to  them. 

The  conditions  of  their  residence  having 
been  discussed,  the  consideration  of  the 
place  of  dwelling  granted  them  by  their 
masters,  the  rulers  and  the  peoples  of 
European  lands,  may  now  be  turned  to. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  INSTITUTION  OF  THE  GHETTO. 

Every  possible  method  to  degrade  and 
harass  the  J  ews,  and  mark  them  off  from  the 
remainder  of  the  population  was  invented 
and  employed  in  the  dark,  mediaeval  days. 
Decrees  innumerable,  regulating  the  life  of 
the  Jews  and  their  intercourse  with  Chris¬ 
tians,  were  passed  at  church  council  upon 
church  council,  and  incorporated  into  the 
canon  law,  and  often  into  civil  legislation. 
Laws  prohibiting  them  to  hold  offices,  to 
eat  or  associate  with  Christians,  to  employ 
Christian  nurses  or  servants,  to  appear  on 
the  streets  during  Passion  Week,  and  many 
more  of  the  same  kind,  were  enacted  time 
and  again.  But  all  such  prohibitions,  irri¬ 
tating  and  troublesome  as  they  were,  were 
yet  naught  compared  with  two  regulations 
which  only  fiendish  ingenuity  could  have 
invented  to  crush  unfortunates  whose  only 
lay  in  the  fact  that  the  faith  they 
( 19) 


crime 


20  Old  European  Jewries. 

confessed  was  a  reproach  to  the  claims  of 
Christianity.  One  was  the  device  hit  upon 
by  Pope  Innocent  III,  decreed  by  the 
Fourth  Lateran  Council  in  1215,  and 
thereupon  by  every  church  council  of  that 
century  convened  anywhere  in  Europe — 
from  Oxford  in  England,  in  1222,  to  Buda 
in  Hungary,  in  1279 — compelling  every 
Jew  to  wear  on  his  clothes  a  mark,  usually 
a  piece  of  yellow  cloth,  by  which  he  might 
be  at  once  known  as  a  Jew.  From  that 
time  on  the  Jew  was  a  marked  creature. 
The  command  was  received  by  the  unfor¬ 
tunates  with  a  wail  of  despair  resounding 
throughout  Europe.  Effort  upon  effort 
was  made  to  have  it  revoked  or  to  evade  it, 
but  all  in  vain.  It  was  the  will  of  the  church, 
and  the  Jew  had  to  submit.  The  other 
device  adopted  to  completely  isolate  the 
Jews  was  to  shut  them  up  in  separate  quar¬ 
ters,  originally  called  vicus  Judceorum , 
later  known  as  Jttdengasse,  Judenstrasse  or 
Jiidenviertel  in  Germany,  as  Ghetto  in 
Italy,  as  Judiaria  in  Portugal,  as  Juiverie 
in  France,  as  Carrier  a  in  Provence  and 
Comtat  Venaissin.  Here,  penned  up  like 


21 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto . 

cattle,  they  were  to  live  apart  from  the 
Christians.  This  systematic  exclusion  be¬ 
gan  with  the  fourteenth  century.  Before 
that  time  Jews  had  inhabited  quarters  by 
themselves,  but  from  choice,  not  because 
they  had  been  forced  into  them. 

What  a  picture  the  Ghetto  recalls  !  The 
narrow,  gloomy  streets,  with  the  houses 
towering  high  on  either  side  ;  the  sunlight 
rarely  streaming  in  ;  situated  in  the  worst 
slums  of  the  city  ;  shut  off  by  gates  barred 
and  bolted  every  night  with  chains  and 
locks,  none  permitted  to  enter  or  depart 
from  sundown  to  sunrise  !  The  solution  had 
at  last  been  found  ;  the  Jew  was  effectually 
excluded.  The  Christian  no  longer  would 
be  corrupted  and  contaminated  by  the  close 
proximity  of  the  followers  of  the  super stitio 
et  perfidia  Judaic  a,  “  the  Jewish  supersti¬ 
tion  and  perfidy.”  For  four  centuries  this 
lasted.  As  we  to-day  remove  the  victims 
of  a  pestilence  far  away  from  the  inhabited 
portions  of  our  cities,  from  fear  of  con¬ 
tagion,  so  the  Jews  were  cut  off  by  the 
walls  of  the  Ghetto  as  though  stricken 
with  some  loathsome  disease  that  might 


22 


Old  European  Jewries. 

carry  misery  and  death  unto  others  if  they 
lived  in  close  contact  with  them.  The 
Ghetto  has  been  well  stigmatized  as  a 
‘‘pest-like  isolation.”26  Speaking  of  the 
sixteenth  century  one  writer  says  :  “  Stone 
walls  arose  in  all  places  wherein  Jews 
dwelt,  shutting  off  their  quarters  like 
pesthouses  ;  the  Ghetto  had  become  epi¬ 
demic.”27 

At  first,  as  was  said  above,  this  dwelling 
in  separate  quarters  was  not  compulsory; 
the  Jews  lived  together  in  their  own  quar¬ 
ters  before  hostile  legislation  forced  them 
into  the  Ghettos.  For  this  we  can  assign 
several  reasons.  One  was  their  fear  of 
the  remainder  of  the  population,  and 
another  their  esprit  de  corps.  They  natur¬ 
ally  felt  that  if  they  lived  together,  they 
could  assist  one  another  better  in  case  of 
need.  In  some  instances,  in  fact,  it  was 
considered  a  favor  when  the  temporal  or 
ecclesiastical  ruler  of  a  city  assigned  them 
a  quarter  in  which  they  would  be  pro¬ 
tected,  as  Bishop  Rudiger  of  Speyer  did 
in  1 084. 28  According  to  some  histori¬ 
ans,29  their  inhabiting  separate  quarters 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto.  23 

was  due  to  the  fact  that  in  mediaeval 
times  people  of  the  same  industrial,  social 
or  commercial  class  were  accustomed  to 
dwell  together  in  certain  streets,  and  the 
Jews,  forming  a  separate  community  whose 
center  was  the  synagogue,  naturally  lived 
together.  Whatever  truth  there  may  be 
in  this  contention  (and  the  strong  feeling 
of  a  common  religion  and  a  common  past 
did  hold  the  Jews  together),  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  authorities  later  enclosed 
them  in  separate  quarters  to  disgrace 
them  and  prevent  their  having  too  inti¬ 
mate  relations  with  the  Christians.  Such 
is  the  reason  given  in  the  decrees,  quoted 
in  a  subsequent  chapter,  ordering  their 
dwelling  in  separate  quarters. 

The  names  applied  to  these  Jewish  quar¬ 
ters  in  different  countries,  noted  above, 
are  readily  explained,  with  the  exception 
of  the  one  now  commonly  adopted  in  all 
languages  to  designate  the  isolation  of  the 
Jews  in  Christian  communities,  viz.,  the 
word  Ghetto.  There  have  been  various 
explanations  of  the  word.  Its  form  points 
to  Italian  origin,  and  in  truth,  it  was  first 


24  Old  European  Jewries. 

used  of  the  Jewish  quarters  in  Italian  cities. 
Italian  Jews  derived  the  word,  which  they 
spelled  g-u-e-t-o ,  from  the  Hebrew  word 
get ,  “  bill  of  divorce,”  finding  the  idea  of 
divorce  expressed  by  the  one  term,  and 
that  of  exclusion  in  the  other,  sufficiently 
analagous  to  point  to  a  common  origin. 
Another  explanation  connects  the  word 
Ghetto  with  the  German  Gitter ,  “bars.”30 
This  suggestion  has  not  much  in  its  favor. 
That  the  Ghetto  resembled  nothing  so 
much  as  a  barred  cage  is  true  enough,  but 
a  likeness  of  this  kind  is  not  sufficient  to 
found  an  etymological  explanation  upon. 
Still  another  and  more  plausible  explana¬ 
tion  has  been  offered  for  the  origin  of  the 
word.  It  is  traced  to  V enice,  in  which  a  sep¬ 
arate  Jewish  quarter  existed  in  1516.  The 
Jewish  quarter  was  called  Ghetto,  because 
it  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  a  cannon  foundry, 
which  in  Italian  is  termed  ghetaE  This 
designation,  belonging  first  only  to  the 
Venetian  Jewry,  soon  became  general. 
Berliner  adduces,  as  an  example  of  simi¬ 
larly  wide  application  of  a  special  term  de¬ 
rived  from  a  particular  locality,  the  word 


25 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto. 

catacombs,  the  name  of  the  subterranean 
burial  vaults  of  Rome,  derived  from  the 
first  burial  place  of  the  kind,  which  was 
situated  ad  Catacombas.  I  may  also  men¬ 
tion  the  suggestion  that  the  word  is  an 

oo 

abbreviation  of  the  Italian  bor ghetto,  small 
burg  or  quarter.32 

The  fifteenth  century  may  be  set  as  the 
time  in  which  the  Ghetto  was  established 
as  the  legal  dwelling  place  of  the  Jews. 
As  mentioned  above,  before  that  time  they 
had  dwelt  apart,  but  the  isolation  was  op¬ 
tional,  at  times  sought  as  a  privilege.  But 
from  the  fifteenth  century  on,  Ghettos 
became  general  ;  in  almost  every  city  in 
which  Jews  dwelt,  a  Ghetto  was  formed. 
In  the  next  chapter  will  be  given  some 
council  and  papal  decrees  on  the  subject. 
At  present,  it  will  suffice  to  take  a  rapid 
survey  of  the  European  lands,  to  see  how 
general  the  Ghettos  were.  Comparatively 
few  of  the  cities  will  be  mentioned,  for,  as 
one,  so  all. 

In  Portugal,  even  before  the  fifteenth 
century,  in  all  cities  and  places  in  which 
over  ten  Jews  lived,  there  was  a  separate 


26  Old  European  Jewries. 

Jewish  quarter,  known  as  Judiaria.  In 
Lisbon,  the  chief  city,  there  were  several 
Judiarias,  and  in  all  other  cities  Jewish 
quarters  existed.  These  Judiarias  were 
closed  every  evening  when  the  bells 
sounded  for  prayer,  and  were  guarded  by 
two  watchmen  appointed  by  the  king. 
Any  Jew  found  outside  of  the  Judiaria 
after  the  first  three  tollings  of  the  bells 
was  fined  ten  liveres,  or,  according  to 
an  order  of  King  Dom  Pedro,  was  whip¬ 
ped  through  the  city,  and  in  case  of  repe¬ 
tition  of  the  offense,  punished  with  confis¬ 
cation  of  his  property.  These  laws  being 
so  stringent,  the  Jews  petitioned  for  their 
amelioration.  King  Joao  I  promised  to 
lighten  their  burden,  and  in  1412  issued 
new  regulations.  According  to  these,  every 
Jew  over  fifteen  years  of  age  found  out¬ 
side  the  Judiaria  after  the  given  signal, 
was  fined  for  the  first  offense  five  thou¬ 
sand  liveres,  for  the  second  ten  thou¬ 
sand,  and  for  the  third  was  publicly  whip¬ 
ped.  These  laws  were  made  bearable  by 
favorable  exceptions.  For  example,  if  a 
Jew,  returning  from  a  distant  point,  was 


27 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto. 

delayed  beyond  the  given  hour,  he  was 
not  subjected  to  punishment  ;  he  was 
merely  compelled  to  take  the  shortest  way 
to  the  Judiaria,  and  in  case  it  was  closed, 
he  could  spend  the  night  elsewhere.33 

In  Italy  the  first  Ghetto  in  which  the 
Jews  were  forced  to  live  was  established 
in  Venice,  in  March,  1516, 34  on  the  island 
Lunga  Spina.  The  celebrated  Ghetto  of 
Rome,  possibly  the  worst  and  most  noisome 
of  all,  was  established  in  1556,  by  Pope 
Paul  IV  Caraffa,  of  evil  memory  among 
Jews.35  With  this  precedent,  the  Ghetto 
became  a  common  institution.  The  other 
Italian  cities  quickly  followed,  Turin,  Flor¬ 
ence,  Pisa,  Ferrara,36  Genoa,37  Mantua,38 
Beneventum39  and  Naples.40 

In  Sicily  the  Jews  were  placed  in  sepa¬ 
rate  quarters,  long  before  it  was  done  in 
the  Italian  cities.  In  1312,  Frederick  II 
ordered  that  the  Jews  of  Palermo  should 
live  apart  from  the  Christians,  in  fact,  out¬ 
side  of  the  city  walls  ;  they  were,  however, 
soon  after  permitted  to  occupy  a  quarter 
within  the  city,41  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
town  hall  and  the  Augustinian  cloister. 


28 


Old  European  Jewries. 

The  Moschita  Court  adjoining  contained 
the  synagogue,  a  hospital  and  forty-four 
dwellings.42 

In  1392,  the  monk  Julian  obtained  per¬ 
mission,  as  royal  commissioner,  to  drive 
all  Sicilian  Jews  into  Ghettos.43  In  Tra¬ 
pani,  the  Jewish  quarter  lay  next  to  the 
city  wall.  When  this  needed  repairs,  the 
citizens  wished  to  put  the  burden  of  the 
repairs  upon  the  Jewish  community,  but 
the  government  compelled  all  to  share  in 
the  expense.44  In  Castro  a  special  officer, 
mentioned  in  a  document  of  the  year  1416, 
had  jurisdiction  over  the  Ghetto.45 

In  Germany,  the  freedom  of  the  Jews 
began  to  be  impaired  in  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  the  time  at  which  their 
residence  outside  of  Jewish  quarters  was 
first  forbidden.46  In  Cologne  they  were 
compelled  to  live  in  their  own  quarter  as 
early  as  this.  A  porta  Judceorum ,  “Jews’ 
gate,”  is  mentioned  in  1206,  a  propugna- 
culum  Judceorum ,  “Jews’ bulwark,”  in  1246. 
According  to  the  Cologne  city  records  of 
the  year  1341,  the  town  officer  was  to  have 
the  keys  of  the  Jews’  gates  ;  he  was  to  lock 


29 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto. 

the  gates  at  sundown,  and  unlock  them  at 
prime,  for  which  service  the  Jews  had  to 
pay  him  twenty  marks  yearly.47  The  Jews 
of  Ratisbon  lived  in  the  Judenviertelf  sep¬ 
arated  from  the  rest  of  the  city  by  three 
large  and  three  small  gates,  locked  every 
evening  and  opened  every  morning.  In 
Nuremberg,  in  1349,  a  special  quarter  was 
assigned  to  them,  and  when  their  numbers 
had  greatly  increased,  the  authorities  were 
forced  to  name  certain  other  streets  in 
which  they  might  acquire  property.49  In 
1460,  the  Jews  of  Frankfort  were  forced 
to  leave  their  dwellings  in  all  portions  of 
the  city,  and  live  in  one  assigned  street.50 
Most  German  cities  had  their  Judengcisse. 
In  Ueberlingen,  the  street  in  which  the 
Jews  lived  was  so  designated.  A  porta 
Judceorum  in  Worms  is  mentioned  in  1231. 
To  keep  stricter  watch  over  the  doings  of 
the  Jews,  the  archbishop  of  Treves,  in  con- 
juction  with  the  civic  authorities,  concluded 
in  1 362  that  the  J ews  should  have  but  three 
gates  leading  into  the  streets  of  the  city, 
and  that  the  rest  of  the  gates  should  be 
walled  up.  In  some  cities,  the  brothels 


30 


Old  European  Jewries . 

were  transferred  to  the  Judengasse ,  this 
being  regarded  as  of  ill  repute.  In  1375, 
the  council  of  Schweidnitz,  in  answer  to 
a  petition  of  the  Jews,  promised  that  no 
fallen  women  should  thereafter  be  trans¬ 
ferred  to  their  street.51  A  recent  writer 
mentions  two  Jewish  gravestones  of  the 
year  1379  in  Rothenburg  an  der  Tauber 
as  reminding  him  of  the  days  when  the 
Jews  all  dwelt  in  the  Gassed2  The  Jewish 
quarter  of  Speyer  dates  from  the  year 
1084.53  At  first  granted  as  a  privilege,  it, 
too,  became  the  enforced  dwelling  place 
of  the  unfortunate  people.  So  throughout 
Germany,  Austria,  Bohemia  and  Eastern 
lands,  the  Gasse  became  an  established 
institution.  Karl  Emil  Franzos  sneaks  of 

x 

the  Ghetto  of  his  native  town  as  an  “  out¬ 
cast  quarter,  which  stretches  along  the  un¬ 
healthy  morasses  of  the  river  of  our  town. 
Pestilential  vapors  poison  the  atmosphere, 
which  remains  gloomy  in  spite  of  the 
clearest  sunshine.” 

The  private  houses  of  the  Ghettos,  not¬ 
ably  in  the  larger  cities,  were  high  and 
narrow,  and  harbored  several  families. 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto .  31 

However  much  the  Jews’  quarters  in  dif¬ 
ferent  localities  may  have  varied  in  appear¬ 
ance,  two  homes  were  common  to  them 
all,  the  synagogue  and  “the  home  of  the 
dead.”  The  synagogue  was  naturally  the 
center  of  the  communal  life  of  the  Jews  ; 
their  religion  was  the  bond  that  joined 
them.  In  the  synagogue,  they  assembled 
every  day  for  service,  and  in  prayer  there, 
they  gained  the  strength  and  endurance 
necessary  to  live  their  lives.  Their 
religion  was  an  integral  portion  of  their 
existence,  and  dominated  its  every  hour. 
Their  God  was  ever  in  their  thoughts, 
and  very  near  unto  them.  Their  religion 
was  truly  their  life.  And  that  other  spot 
found  in  every  Ghetto,  that  last  home  of 
the  mortal  frame,  too  often  was  the  only 
resting  place  they  could  hope  for.  In  the 
Ghetto,  it  was  called  the  “good  place,” 
and  who  knows  unto  how  many,  during 
the  sad  days  marked  by  fanaticism,  it 
appeared  as  a  good  place,  better  than  any 
other  earthly  habitation.  Usually  situated 
at  the  end  of  the  Gasse ,  the  cemetery  was 
a  common  feature  of  all  Jewish  quarters. 


32  Old  European  Jewries. 

The  Jews  found  rest  in  the  synagogue  and 
in  the  burying  ground ;  the  one  was  the 
emblem  of  the  living  faith,  the  undying 
bond  that  joined  the  Jews  all  over  the 
earth  ;  the  other,  the  eternal  home  of  the 
generations  that  had  been  steadfast  to  the 
faith  of  the  fathers,  and  had  been  filled 
with  the  hope  of  a  better  and  brighter 
future,  in  which  the  time  of  suffering 
would  be  fulfilled,  and  their  God  would 
bring  peace  and  rest  to  His  people,  was 
the  symbol  of  fealty  in  death  to  the  same 
faith.  In  a  measure,  that  time  of  surcease 
of  suffering  has  come.  The  Jews  in  the 
civilized  world  are  as  free  as  other  men. 
God  has  brought  liberty  and  freedom  to 
them.  May  the  myriads  who  lived,  suf¬ 
fered,  prayed,  endured,  hoped,  and  died  in 
exclusion,  rest  in  peace  !  Their  descend¬ 
ants  are  enjoying  the  benefits  of  that 
better  day  which  they  felt  sure  that  the 
God  of  mercy  would  bring  about,  as  they 
expressed  it,  “in  His  own  time.” 

There  was  one  other  communal  house 
in  some  Jewish  quarters,  which  should  be 
referred  to.  Sad  as  was  their  position, 


Institution  of  the  Ghetto .  33 

the  Ghetto  Jews  had  their  joys  and  pleas¬ 
ures,  not  only  in  the  family  circle,  but  also 
in  their  communal  life.  It  must  not  be 
imagined  that  they  continually  lived  in 
the  shadow  of  exclusion.  It  was  not  con¬ 
stantly  present  to  their  thoughts.  Years 
and  centuries  accustomed  them  to  their 
life,  and  the  natural  buoyancy  of  human 
creatures  is  bound  to  assert  itself.  There 
were  not  always  active  persecutions,  and 
in  quiet  times,  the  life  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Ghetto  flowed  along  much  as 
life  elsewhere  does,  with  its  joy  and 
sorrow,  its  happiness  and  woe,  its  pleasure 
and  grief.  For  the  joyous  element,  pro¬ 
vision  was  made  in  what  was  known  as 
the  “  Dance  house.”  The  larger  com¬ 
munities,  such  as  those  at  Frankfort, 
Eger,  Augsburg,  Rothenburg,  etc.,  had 
their  own  dance  houses,  which,  besides 
serving  the  purpose  indicated  by  their 
name,  when  necessary,  may  have  been 
used  as  gathering  places  for  more  earnest 
occasions.  “  Here  the  Jewish  girls  could 
appear  without  the  two  blue  stripes  on 
their  veils,  and  the  men  without  the  dis- 


34  Old  European  Jewries. 

tineuishinof  mark  on  their  clothes  or  the 
peaked  hat  on  their  heads.”54  It  is  grati¬ 
fying  to  think  that  there  were  bright 
spots,  too,  in  that  long  life  of  misery, 
separation  and  exclusion.  The  very  fact 
that  the  Jews  outlived  the  depression  and 
the  evils  of  the  cramped  Ghetto  existence, 
and  retained  the  elasticity  of  temperament 
which  still  marks  them,  speaks  volumes 
for  the  optimism  with  which  their  faith 
imbued  them.  Not  all  the  wrongs  and 
ills  of  centuries  could  crush  the  spirit  of 
hope  that  had  its  well-springs  in  the  words 
of  their  prophets.  A  trustful  earnestness 
marked  them,  and  tided  them  over  the 
evil  times.  The  evil  times  that  invented 
the  Ghetto  are,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  gone 
forever ;  the  present,  in  western  Europe 
and  in  America,  at  least,  is  bright  with 
the  promise  of  better  things.  In  the  cities 
of  the  western  and  southern  European 
lands,  “  the  Ghetto  doors  have  been  re¬ 
moved  ;  the  Jew  is  no  longer  cooped  up 
in  the  worst  slums  of  the  city,  and  sepa¬ 
rated  from  his  fellow  townsmen  by  gates 
and  chains,” 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  GHETTO  IN  CHURCH  LEGISLA¬ 
TION. 

In  order  that  the  various  motives  that 
led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Ghetto  or 
Jewish  quarter  may  be  better  understood, 
some  of  the  original  acts  of  church  authori- 
ties  and  councils  ordering  the  dwelling 
apart  of  Jews,  and  stating  the  reasons 
therefor  will  be  given  here. 

Reference  has  been  made  several  times 
in  the  foregoing  pages  to  the  act  of  Rudi¬ 
ger,  Bishop  of  Speyer,  by  which,  in  the 
year  1084,  he  conferred  upon  the  Jews  of 
his  diocese  what  were  then  considered 
privileges.  He  assigned  them  a  separate 
portion  of  the  city  surrounded  by  a  wall, 
gave  them  their  own  burying  ground, 
granted  them  jurisdiction  in  their  own 
affairs,  etc.  This  was  before  the  days  in 
which  the  Ghetto  was  instituted  as  a  mark 
of  disgrace,  but  the  document55  is  interest¬ 
ing  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  oldest 

( 35  ) 


36  Old  European  Jewries . 

extant  dealing  with  a  distinctly  Jewish 
quarter. 

“  In  the  name  of  the  holy  and  indivisible 
Trinity,  when  I,  Rudiger,  also  called 
Huozmann,  Bishop  of  Speyer,  changed 
the  town  of  Speyer  into  a  city,  I  thought 
that  I  would  add  to  the  honor  of  our 
place  by  bringing  in  Jews.  Accordingly, 
I  located  them  outside  of  the  community 
and  habitation  of  the  other  citizens,  and 
that  they  might  not  readily  be  disturbed 
by  the  insolence  of  the  populace,  I  sur¬ 
rounded  them  with  a  wall.  Their  place 
of  habitation  I  had  acquired  in  a  just 
manner  ;  the  hill  partly  with  money,  partly 
by  exchange ;  the  valley  I  had  received 
from  (some)  heirs  as  a  gift.  That  place, 
I  say,  I  gave  over  to  them  on  the  condi¬ 
tion  that  they  would  pay  three  pounds 
and  a  half  of  the  money  of  Speyer  annu¬ 
ally  for  the  use  of  the  (monastery) 
brothers.  Within  their  dwelling  place 
and  outside  thereof,  up  to  the  harbor  of 
the  ships,  and  in  the  harbor  itself,  I 
granted  them  full  permission  to  change 
gold  and  silver  ;  to  buy  and  sell  anything 


37 


Church  Legislation. 

they  pleased,  and  that  same  permission  I 
gave  them  throughout  the  state.  In  addi- 
tion,  I  gave  them  out  of  the  property  of 
the  church  a  burial  place  with  hereditary 
rights.  I  also  granted  the  following 
rights:  If  any  stranger  Jew  lodge  with 
them  (temporarily),  he  shall  be  free  from 
tax.  Further,  just  as  the  city  governor 
adjudicates  between  the  citizens,  so  the 
head  synagogue  officer  is  to  decide  every 
case  that  may  arise  between  Jews  or 
against  them.  But  if,  by  chance,  he  can 
not  decide,  the  case  shall  be  brought 
before  the  bishop  and  his  chamberlains. 
Night  watches,  guards,  fortifications,  they 
shall  provide  only  for  their  own  district, 
the  guards,  indeed,  in  common  with  the 
servants.  Nurses  and  servants  they  shall 
be  permitted  to  have  from  among  us. 
Slaughtered  meat  which,  according  to  their 
law,  they  are  not  permitted  to  eat,  they 
can  sell  to  Christians,  and  Christians  may 
buy  it.  Finally,  as  the  crowning  mark  of 
kindness,  I  have  given  them  laws  better 
than  the  Jewish  people  has  in  any  city  of 
the  German  empire. 


38  Old  European  Jewries. 

Lest  any  of  my  successors  diminish  this 
favor  and  privilege,  or  force  them  to  pay 
greater  tribute,  on  the  plea  that  they 
acquired  their  favorable  status  unjustly, 
and  did  not  receive  it  from  a  bishop,  I 
have  left  this  document  as  a  testimony  of 
the  above  mentioned  favors.  And  that 
the  remembrance  of  this  matter  may  last 
through  the  centuries,  I  have  corroborated 
it  under  my  hand  and  seal,  as  may  be  seen 
below. 

Given  on  the  fifteenth  of  September,  in 
the  year  of  the  Incarnation  1084,  in  the 
twelfth  year  since  the  above  mentioned 
bishop  commenced  to  rule  in  this  state.” 

This  document  mentions  one  peculiarity 
of  legislation  in  regard  to  the  Jews,  to 
which  a  few  words  may  be  devoted.  The 
bishop  states  that  one  of  the  great  favors 
granted  the  Jews  of  his  diocese  was  that  a 
Jew  passing  through  the  city  could  lodge 
with  the  Jews  during  his  temporary  stay 
without  having  to  pay  a  tax  for  the  privi¬ 
lege.  In  the  light  of  known  facts,  this 
was,  indeed,  a  noteworthy  concession.  In 
most  German  cities  a  non-resident  Jew 


39 


Church  Legislation. 

was  not  permitted  to  stay,  even  over  night ; 
to  stop  for  a  longer  time  was  altogether 
out  of  the  question.  Other  cities  granted 
the  privilege,  but  only  for  a  fixed  pecu¬ 
niary  consideration.  The  privileges  here 
granted  are  remarkable,  and  the  bishop  is 
quite  correct  in  his  statement  that  his 
Jews  lived  under  more  favorable  laws  than 
those  in  any  other  German  city. 

The  real  reason  that  prompted  church¬ 
men  to  legislate  that  Jews  should  occupy 
separate  quarters  is  given  in  the  following 
clause  taken  from  the  proceedings  of  the 
ecclesiastical  synod  held  at  Breslau*  in  the 
year  1266: 

“  Since  the  land  of  Poland  is  a  new 
acquisition  in  the  body  of  Christianity,  lest 
perchance  the  Christian  people  be,  on  this 
account,  the  more  easily  infected  with  the 
superstition  and  depraved  morals  of  the 
Jews  dwelling  among  them  *  *  *  we 
command  that  the  Jews  dwelling  in  this 
province  of  Gnesen  shall  not  live  among 
the  Christians,  but  shall  have  their  houses 
near  or  next  to  one  another  in  some  se¬ 
questered  part  of  the  state  or  town,  so 


40 


Old  European  Jewries. 

that  their  dwelling  place  shall  be  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  common  dwelling  place  of 
the  Christians  by  a  hedge,  a  wall  or  a 
ditch.”56 

The  third  provincial  council  of  Ravenna, 
held  in  131 1,  desiring  to  put  an  end  to  the 
free  commingling  of  Christians  and  Jews, 
apparently  in  vogue  in  that  province,  de¬ 
creed,  among  other  restrictive  measures, 
one  in  regard  to  the  habitation  of  the  Jews  : 

“Jews  shall  not  dwell  longer  than  a 
month  anywhere,  except  in  those  places 
in  which  they  have  synagogues.”57 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  commands 
of  this  council  were  not  very  much  re¬ 
spected,  for  another  held  in  the  same  place 
in  1317  deals  more  stringently  with  the 
same  subject.  The  fourteenth  rubric  of 
this  council  begins,  “Although  the  Jews 
are  tolerated  by  the  church,  yet  they  ought 
not  to  be  tolerated  to  the  detriment  or 
severe  injury  of  the  faithful ;  because  it 
frequently  happens  that  they  return  to 
Christians  contumely  for  favors,  contempt 
for  familiarity.  Therefore,  the  provincial 
council  held  at  Ravenna  some  time  since 


4i 


Church  Legislation. 

o 

( see  above ),  thinking  that  many  scandals 
have  arisen  from  their  too  free  commingling 

o  o 

with  Christians,  decreed  that  they  should 
wear  a  wheel  of  yellow  cloth  on  their  outer 
garments,  and  their  women  a  like  wheel 
on  their  heads,  so  that  they  may  be  distin¬ 
guished  from  Christians,”  and  then  it 
continues,  in  reference  to  our  subject : 
“And  Jews  shall  not  dwell  longer  than 
a  month  anywhere  except  in  those  places  in 
which  they  have  synagogues.  But  because 
some,  not  being  able  to  abstain  from  for¬ 
bidden  things,  disregard  the  sound  decree 
of  the  aforementioned  council,  and  pretend 
ignorance,  a  penalty  shall  teach  them  to 
know  how  grave  an  offense  it  is  to  dis- 
regard  ecclesiastical  decrees  ;  and  with  the 
approbation  of  the  sacred  council,  desiring 
to  prevent  this  offense  hereafter,  we  warn 
all  clerics  as  well  as  laymen  of  our  province, 
and  we  decree  that  two  months  after  the 
publication  of  this  decree  no  one  shall 
erect  houses  for  Jews,  nor  rent  or  sell 
them  any  already  built,  nor  under  any  pre¬ 
tense  grant  them  (any  of  their  houses),  or 
permit  them  to  occupy  them.  If  any  one 


42 


Old  European  Jewries. 

acts  contrary  to  this,  he  shall  by  that  very 
deed  incur  excommunication,  from  which 
he  cannot  be  absolved  until  he  shall  satisfy 
the  above  mentioned  requirements.”58 

In  this  manner  the  Jews  were  to  be 
made  impossible.  Not  even  a  separate 
quarter  was  granted  them.  No  new  settle¬ 
ment  of  Jews  was  to  be  permitted  any¬ 
where.  They  had  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
permission  to  live,  in  the  province  of  Ra¬ 
venna,  in  places  in  which  they  chanced  to 
have  a  synagogue. 

The  council  of  Valencia,  in  Spain,  held 
in  1388, went  further,  and  defined  clearly 
the  habitations  that  Jews  might  occupy. 
Its  regulations  include  Saracens,  Jews  and 
Saracens  being  placed  in  the  same  cate¬ 
gory  as  contaminating  Christians.  By 
associating  with  them,  “  the  faithful  incur 
serious  danger  to  body  and  mind,”  as 
it  was  put.  The  church  dignitaries  ex¬ 
pressed  themselves  thus  :  “We  decree,  that 
Jews  and  Saracens  shall  no  longer  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  have  houses,  inns  or  other  dwel¬ 
ling  places  among  Christians,  nor  Chris¬ 
tians  among  Jews  and  Saracens ;  but  Jews 


43 


Church  Legislation. 

and  Saracens  shall  confine  themselves 
to  the  limits  assigned  to  them  in  certain 
cities  and  places.  Where  the  aforesaid 
Jews  and  Saracens  have  not  had  limits  or 
confines  of  this  kind  assigned  to  them  for 
habitation,  there  shall  be  designated,  and 
assigned  to  them  in  the  aforementioned 
cities  and  places,  certain  quarters  separated 
from  the  habitations  of  the  Christians, 
within  which  they  shall  dwell,  nor  shall 
they  be  permitted  under  any  circumstances 
to  tarry  without  the  said  limits.  *  *  *  As 
for  Christians  who  shall  presume  to  live 
within  the  quarters  assigned,  or  to  be  as¬ 
signed,  to  Jews  or  Saracens,  if,  within  two 
months  from  the  day  of  publication  of 
these  orders  in  the  Cathedral  church  of 
the  state  or  diocese  in  which  they  dwell, 
they  do  not  have  a  care  to  betake  them¬ 
selves  to  dwelling  among  Christians,  they 
shall  be  forced  to  this  by  ecclesiastical 
censure.  If,  two  months  after  the  limits 
are  set  for  the  Jews  and  Saracens,  or  after 
the  said  limits  have  been  made  by  the 
decree  and  will  of  the  king,  or  other  ruler, 
ecclesiastical  or  temporal,  of  the  state  or 


44  Old  European  Jewries . 

place,  they  are  unwilling  or  neglect  to  retire 
within  them,  they  shall  be  removed  from 
Christian  communion.”59 

The  general  church  council  of  Basle, 
held  in  1434,  put  the  matter  very  clearly, 
when,  in  its  nineteenth  session,  it  decreed, 
among  other  laws  affecting  the  Jews: 
“  That  too  great  converse  with  them 
(Jews)  may  be  avoided,  they  shall  be  com¬ 
pelled  to  live  in  certain  places  in  the  cities 
and  towns,  separated  from  the  dwelling 
place  of  the  Christians  and  as  far  from  the 
churches  as  possible.”60 

The  council  of  Milan,  convened  in  1565, 
during  the  papacy  of  Pius  IV,  the  succes¬ 
sor  of  Paul  IV,  who  had,  by  special  decree, 
instituted  the  Ghetto  of  Rome,  demands  in 
strong  terms  the  establishment  of  Ghettos 
everywhere.  The  commands  of  preceding 
councils  in  this  matter  had  not  always  met 
with  obedience,  but  the  example  set  by 
the  pope  himself  in  forcing  the  Jews  of 
his  domain  into  the  terrible  Jew  quarter 
was  emulated  everywhere. 

The  words  of  the  Milan  council  on  this 
subject  are  as  follows:  “ We  strenuously 


45 


Church  Legislation. 

demand  of  the  rulers  that  they  shall  desig¬ 
nate  in  the  different  cities  a  certain  place 
in  which  Jews  shall  live  apart  from  Chris¬ 
tians.  And  if  Jews  have  houses  of  their 
own  in  (other  portions  of)  the  city,  they 
(the  rulers)  shall  command  them  to  be 
sold  to  Christians  within  six  months,  in 
actuality  and  not  by  any  pretended  con¬ 
tract.”61 

The  decrees  given  require  no  commen¬ 
tary.  They  express  explicitly  enough  the 
reasons  why  the  Jews  were  relegated  to 
separate  quarters.  They  show  also  the 
development  of  the  sentiments  towards 
this  people.  It  is  a  long  way  from  the 
mild  document  of  Rudiger,  of  Speyer, 
which  granted  them  a  special  district  as  a 
protection,  to  the  harsh  and  positive  com¬ 
mands  of  the  councils. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  JUDENGASSE  OF  FRANKFORT- 
ON-THE-MAIN. 

The  best  known  and  most  celebrated  of 
all  the  Ghettos  of  Germany  is  that  of 
Frankfort-on-the-Main.  Its  history  is  re¬ 
markable  ;  some  of  the  most  stirring  events 
in  German-Jewish  history  took  place  there. 

The  Jews  settled  in  Frankfort  later  than 
in  most  of  the  German  cities.  As  late  as 
1152  no  J ews  lived  there.  A  congregation 
was  formed  only  towards  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century.  The  first  authentic  notice 
of  the  presence  of  Jews  in  the  city  is  an 
account  in  an  old  chronicle  of  a  figdit 

o 

between  Christians  and  Jews. 

The  Jews  of  Frankfort  stood  under  the 

direct  protection  of  the  emperor  up  to 

1349,  the  year  in  which  the  city  bought 

the  right  over  them,  i.  e.}  the  right  to  tax 

them  whenever  need  and  occasion  required. 

It  was  in  this  year,  after  this  acquisition 

(46) 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort .  47 

by  the  city,  that  the  greatest  calamities 
befell  the  Jews,  not  only  in  Frankfort,  but 
throughout  Germany.  The  scourge  known 
as  the  Black  Death  raged  throughout  Eu¬ 
rope.  Its  victims  ran  up  to  thousands  and 
hundreds  of  thousands.  It  is  said  that  the 
Jews  escaped  its  ravages,  or  at  least  did 
not  succumb  in  such  great  numbers  as  the 
Christian  population.  The  cry  was  raised 
that  Jews  had  poisoned  the  wells.  Then 
began  one  of  the  most  terrible  persecu¬ 
tions  on  record.  The  reports  against 
the  Jews  were  spread  from  place  to  place 
by  the  Flagellants,  those  bigoted  fanatics 
who  swept  the  country  like  a  whirlwind, 
everywhere  raising  the  cry  of  the  guilt  of 
the  Jews,  and  inciting  the  populace  to  rob 
and  exterminate  the  hated  people.  Their 
residences  were  burnt  to  the  ground.  The 
flames  that  destroyed  the  Jewish  quarter 
spread,  and  a  large  portion  of  Frankfort 
lay  in  ashes.  The  whole  Jewish  commu¬ 
nity  perished  ;  at  least  there  is  no  notice 
preserved  of  any  Jews  that  were  saved. 
The  ground  which  they  had  owned  fell  to 
the  city.  In  1360  permission  was  again 


48  Old  European  Jewries. 

given  to  Jews  to  settle  in  the  city.  Money 
was  needed,  and  taxable  property,  all  that 
Jews  were  considered  to  be,  was  in  de¬ 
mand.  Their  condition  after  the  return 
was  bearable.  They  were,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  not  in  possession  of  political 
rights,  nor  could  they  hold  office.  They 
were  not  taxed  according  to  individual  for¬ 
tune,  but  had  to  pay  a  certain  yearly  sum 
for  every  Jew,  determined  upon  before¬ 
hand.  No  Jews  could  be  members  of  the 
Rath ,  the  council  of  citizens  that  governed 
the  affairs  of  the  city.  They  were  not 
admitted  into  any  military  organization. 
At  this  time,  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
they  could  own  real  estate,  and  fix  their 
residence  in  any  portion  of  the  city.  They 
were  not  yet  compelled  to  dwell  in  a  cer¬ 
tain  street,  although  there  was  a  so-called 
Jewish  quarter,  in  which  most  of  the  Jews 
lived  together  from  choice,  for  here  was 
the  synagogue.  Christians  also  lived  in 
that  quarter,  and  between  1364  and  1375 
the  mayor  dwelt  there. 

The  council  passed  upon  the  rights  of  the 
Jews  in  so-called  Judenordnungen.  From 


The  Juclengasse  of  Frankfort .  49 

the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century 
such  an  act  was  passed  every  three  years. 
This  was  a  very  profitable  source  of  reve¬ 
nue,  for  the  Jews  could  not  gain  right  of 
residence  for  longer  than  this  period,  and 
so,  every  three  years,  they  had  to  pay 
liberally  to  have  the  privilege  renewed.  It 
was  the  sword  of  Damocles  continually 
hanging  over  their  heads.  The  failure  to 
have  a  favorable  act  passed,  of  course, 
meant  expulsion,  but  money  was  all  the 
legislators  wanted,  and  by  means  of  money 
the  Jews  succeeded  in  renewing  the  trien¬ 
nial  lease  whenever  the  time  expired. 

In  the  act  ( Judenordnung )  of  1460,  all 
the  Jews  were  commanded  to  leave  the 
homes  hitherto  occupied  by  them,  and 
dwell  together  in  one  street  set  aside  for 
them.  This  is  the  decree  establishing  the 
Judengasse  or  Ghetto.  The  decree  gives 
as  the  reason  for  instituting  the  Ghetto 
the  fact  that  many  Jews  lived  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  chief  church  of  the 
city,  and  this  proximity  was  looked  upon 
as  a  contamination  and  a  desecration. 
It  was  nothing  short  of  an  affront  to 
4 


50  Old  European  Jewries . 

the  Christian  religion  for  Jews  to  hold 
their  services  so  near  a  church,  since  the 
noise  that  the  Jews  made  in  chanting 
durinof  their  devotions  disturbed  the 
Christian  service.  Furthermore,  it  was 
shameful  that  Jews  should  view  the  holy 
host,  and  hear  the  church  songs,  as  owing 
to  the  nearness  of  their  dwellings  to  the 
church  they  could,  and,  therefore,  the 
Jews  and  their  synagogue  not  only  had  to 
be  removed  from  such  dangerous  prox¬ 
imity  to  the  holy  building  of  the  Christ¬ 
ians,  but,  what  was  more,  they  had  to  be 
relegated  to  some  portion  of  the  city,  and 
be  shut  off  by  themselves,  so  that  all  inter¬ 
course  between  them  and  the  Christians 
might  be  impossible.  There  was  to  be  no 
unduly  close  intimacy,  lest  the  baneful 
influence  of  the  Jews  result  in  harm  to  the 
Christians  with  whom  they  might  come 
into  contact. 

As  early  as  1442,  the  council  had  been 
ordered  by  Emperor  Frederick  III  to 
pass  this  decree,  but  it  had  refused  to 
obey  his  mandate.  In  1458,  the  order 
was  repeated,  and  the  council  did  his 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort.  51 

bidding.  The  quarter  of  the  city  to  be 
inhabited  by  the  Jews  was  designated. 
In  1460,  work  was  begun  on  the  new' 
fudengasse ,  and  in  1462  the  Jews  were 
compelled  to  occupy  it.  It  lay  in  a  sparsely 
inhabited  portion  of  the  city,  and  was 
separated  from  the  nearest  dwellings  of 
the  Christians  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
Jews  dwelt  in  a  completely  secluded  por¬ 
tion.  It  lay  on  the  border  between  the 
old  and  the  new  city,  on  a  part  of  the 
dried-up  city-moat  which  ran  along  the 
wall  of  the  old  city.  By  this  wall  it  was 
separated  from  the  old  city ;  by  another 
wall,  recently  erected,  from  the  new  city. 
It  had  three  entrances,  one  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  street,  another  at  the  end,  and 
the  third  in  the  middle  of  the  wall.  The 
first  two  connected  it  with  the  new  city, 
the  third  with  the  old. 

It  must  not  for  a  moment  be  imagined 
that  the  Jews  accepted  this  decree  with 
equanimity.  Up  to  this  time  they  had 
lived  on  a  friendly  footing  with  their 
neighbors,  and  now  to  be  shut  up  like 
marked  creatures  in  a  pen,  locked  every 


52  Old  European  Jewries . 

night,  filled  them  with  dismay.  They  tried 
by  every  means  to  ward  off  the  crushing 
blow.  Why,  why  should  they  be  forced 
to  leave  the  dwellings  they  had  hitherto 
occupied  ?  They  had  been  law-abiding, 
harmless.  They  addressed  a  petition  to 
the  council,  in  which,  with  the  eagerness 
of  despair,  they  begged  that  the  decree  be 
revoked,  urging  reasons,  the  strongest  they 
could  find,  why  this  dreaded  order  should 
not  be  carried  into  effect.  In  their  peti¬ 
tion  they  said  that  the  street  appointed 
for  their  dwelling  would  be  so  completely 
separated  from  the  city  by  the  city  wall 
that  if  they  needed  help,  the  city  would 
not  be  able  to  assist  them,  and  on  the 
other  side  lived  only  gardeners  and  people 
employed  in  the  woods  by  the  day.  Of 
late,  too,  the  Jews  had  been  mocked,  and 
stoned,  and  threatened  with  violence  in 
the  streets  into  which  the  gates  of  the 
Ghetto  led ;  how  much  more  would  this 
be  the  case  if  in  the  future  they  were  com¬ 
pelled  to  go  through  those  very  streets 
whenever  they  went  outside  of  their 
“street.”  Besides,  in  so  isolated  a  region, 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort .  53 

they  would  be  exposed,  at  the  time  of  the 
two  messen  or  fairs,  to  the  abuse  and  rob¬ 
bery  of  the  many  strangers  who  came  to 
the  city  on  those  occasions.  At  the  close 
of  the  petition,  they  offered,  in  order  to 
invalidate  the  chief  reason  urged  for  their 
removal  from  their  present  homes,  to  have 
the  gate  opposite  the  church  closed,  to 
content  themselves  in  the  future  with  the 
one  exit  on  the  opposite  side,  to  build  a 
high  wall  about  their  present  dwellings, 
and  back  of  them  a  second,  to  sell  all  the 
houses  standing  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
church,  and  rent  houses  on  the  opposite 
side,  and  even  to  be  satisfied  to  have  the 
entrance  to  the  street  on  that  side  put 
under  lock  and  key. 

All  this  they  offered  in  order  that  they 
might  maintain  their  self-respect  and  pre¬ 
vent  the  carrying  out  of  the  terrible  meas¬ 
ure  which  was  to  make  of  them,  in  a  more 
aggravated  sense  than  hitherto,  a  people 
apart.  In  spite  of  petition  and  appeal 
they  did  not  succeed.  All  the  offers  they 
made  did  not  assist  their  cause.  Away 
from  the  association  with  their  fellow-men 


54  Old  European  yewries . 

to  the  narrow,  closed-up  “street;”  away 
from  the  enjoyment  of  God’s  light  and  air 
to  the  sunless,  close  atmosphere  of  the 
Gasse ;  away  from  house  and  home  to  the 
prison-like  tenements  in  which  for  well- 
nigh  four  centuries  mind  and  body  were 
to  be  stunted  !  The  unfortunates  had  a 
premonition,  as  it  were,  of  the  terrible  ef¬ 
fects  of  this  latest  outrage  perpetrated  by 
Christian  legislation.  In  1462  they  were 
compelled  to  remove  from  their  dwellings 
into  the  new  street  selected  for  them  ;  it 
was  termed  at  once  New  Egypt,  because 
the  enforced  settling  of  the  Jews  there 
showed  them  to  be  slaves  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians,  even  as  their  fathers  had  been  of  the 
Egyptians.  Truly  an  apt  comparison,  for 
the  institution  of  the  Ghetto  marked  the 
beginning  of  a  new  slavery,  and  demon¬ 
strated  once  again  to  the  devoted  people 
how  powerless  they  were,  and  how  com¬ 
pletely  at  the  mercy  of  their  masters. 
They  were  made  to  feel  that  contact  with 
them  was  an  abomination.  Wherever  they 
gazed  the  word  “  excluded  ”  met  their 
eyes — excluded  from  civic  privileges,  ex- 


The  fudengasse  of  Frankfort .  55 

eluded  from  political  office  and  honor, 
excluded  from  the  trades,  excluded  from 
the  army,  and  now  excluded  from  free 
contact  and  conversation  with  others,  as 
though  their  touch  was  unholy,  and  their 
proximity  a  curse. 

The  houses  in  the  Gasse  had  been 
erected  by  the  city,  also  the  synagogue, 
the  bath-house,  the  dance-hall  and  the 
Jewish  inn.  On  the  other  hand,  all  the 
houses  in  which  Jews  had  dwelt  became 
the  property  of  the  city,  without  compen¬ 
sation  to  the  owners,  other  than  the  use 
of  those  assigned  to  them  in  their  new 
street.  These  houses  were  by  no  means 
given  to  them  as  their  property ;  for  the 
privilege  of  inhabiting  them  they  had  to 
pay  an  annual  sum  into  the  city  treasury. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  years  later  the 
houses  of  the  Judengasse  were  at  last  de¬ 
clared  to  be  the  property  of  their  tenants, 
but  not  the  ground  whereon  they  stood, 
and  in  place  of  the  house-rent,  which  they 
had  had  to  pay  formerly,  they  now  had  to 
pay  ground -rent.  After  1465  all  new 
buildings  in  the  Gasse  had  to  be  erected 
at  the  expense  of  the  Jews. 


56  Old  European  Jewries. 

It  was  a  most  gloomy  street,  twelve  feet 
broad,  in  its  widest  portion  fifteen  or  six¬ 
teen  feet.  A  wagon  could  not  turn  in  it, 
and,  that  the  great  confusion  incident  upon 
the  many  stoppages  thus  caused  might  be 
avoided,  the  city  council  had  the  middle 
entrance  widened.  The  Gasse  contained 
one  hundred  and  ninety  houses,  built  very 
close  together,  some  of  them  very  high 
and  containing  manv  souls,  the  one  hun- 
dred  and  ninety  houses  harboring  four 
hundred  and  forty-five  families.  In  each 
house  there  were  two  or  three  families, 
and  as  the  community  consisted  of  between 
twenty-five  hundred  and  four  thousand 
persons,  each  house  contained,  on  an  av¬ 
erage,  between  thirteen  and  twenty  per¬ 
sons.  On  account  of  the  extreme  nar¬ 
rowness  of  the  street  and  the  height  of 
the  buildings  on  either  side,  the  tops 
of  the  buildings  seemed  almost  to  touch 
each  other.  The  sun  had  little  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  penetrate  here,  and  in  this  con¬ 
finement  the  people  were  compelled  to 
spend  their  lives.  They  were  forced  not 
only  to  live  here ;  they  could  not  leave 


The  Jndengasse  of  Frankfort.  57 

their  “  street”  even  for  recreation.  The 
rest  of  the  city  was  closed  to  them.  Every 
night  they  were  locked  in.  The  gates  at 
the  entrances  of  the  Gasse  were  bolted  at 
sundown,  and  not  opened  till  morning, 
and  on  Sundays  and  all  Christian  and  Jew¬ 
ish  holidays  they  were  kept  bolted  all  day. 
Only  in  the  most  urgent  cases  was  any  one 
permitted  to  go  outside  of  the  “street,” 
and  then  only  by  a  small  door,  built  in  each 
gate.  It  might  seem  that  all  means  of  ex¬ 
cluding  and  degrading  these  people  had 
been  exhausted  by  shutting  them  up.  But 
no !  the  inventiveness  of  the  legislators 
went  further.  At  no  time  were  the  Jews 
to  breathe  the  same  fresh  air  with  the  citi¬ 
zens  of  the  city.  In  spite  of  their  dark, 
close,  unhealthy  dwelling  place,  they  could 
not  go  forth  in  leisure  hours  to  walk  on 
the  public  promenades.  By  special  legis¬ 
lation  it  was  enacted  that  no  Jew  should 
walk  in  the  Stadt  Alice ,  the  public  pleas- 
ance,  the  only  place  in  the  city,  at  that 
time,  for  promenading.  When,  somewhat 
later,  the  moats  and  ramparts  surround¬ 
ing  the  city  were  converted  into  squares 


58  Old  European  Jewries. 

planted  with  trees  and  flowers,  the  Jews 
were  not  permitted  to  use  them,  but  had 
to  confine  themselves  to  the  path  leading 
to  them.  Can  ingenuity  go  further  in 
fastening  the  marks  of  disgrace  on  an  un¬ 
fortunate  community  ?  They  were  forbid¬ 
den  not  only  to  live  in  the  locality  which 
they  might  prefer,  but  to  enjoy  the  invig¬ 
orating  air  of  God,  a  right  denied  not  even 
to  the  beasts  of  the  field. 

There  were,  too,  some  streets  of  the  city, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  public  squares,  that 
they  scarcely  dared  tread  upon.  So,  for 
example,  they  were  absolutely  forbidden 
to  walk  across  the  Pfarr eisen,  that  is,  the 
spot  adjoining  the  chief  church,  or  through 
the  thoroughfares  (employed  as  passages) 
leading  to  other  churches,  or  over  the 
so-called  Holz  und  Zimmer graben.  If  a 
Jew  presumed  to  walk  on  any  of  these 
forbidden  places,  his  hat  was  snatched 
from  his  head  by  passers-by.  The  Roemer- 
berg,  the  space  in  front  of  the  Roemer  or 
Rathhaus,  they  could  use  only  at  the  time 
of  the  fairs  ( messen ),  and  then  only  on  the 
east  side,  the  side  opposite  the  city  hall. 


The  Judcngasse  of  Frankfort.  59 

Yes,  there  was  one  occasion  on  which  the 
contamination  of  the  Jew’s  presence  was 
suffered  even  on  the  side  of  the  space  on 
which  the  city  hall  stood.  That  was  when 
the  Jews,  on  New  Year’s  Day,  entered  the 
city  hall  with  their  gift  of  fine  spices, 
which  they  were  expected  to  give  to  every 
councilman,  to  express  their  allegiance  to 
the  city  fathers,  and  to  convey  their  grati¬ 
tude  for  the  precious  privilege  of  being 
cramped  in  a  dark,  gloomy,  unhealthy 
spot.  This  was  the  only  occasion  on  which 
a  Jew  could  enter  the  hall  from  the  front ; 
if,  at  any  other  time,  he  had  business  that 
required  his  presence  in  the  city  hall,  he 
had  to  enter  from  the  rear. 

Not  only  were  there  certain  districts  of 
the  city  in  which  Jews  were  forbidden 
to  appear,  but  even  on  the  streets  on  which 
it  was  understood  that  they  might  walk, 
they  were  not  free  from  the  abuse  and 
insults  of  the  populace.  The  cry  of  hep  / 
hep  /  resounded  whenever  the  unfortu¬ 
nates  showed  themselves.  They  were 
chased  through  the  streets ;  stones  and 
mud  were  flung  at  them,  and  they  dared 


6o 


Old  European  Jewries. 

not  retaliate.  Three  years  after  their 
transfer  to  the  Gasse,  the  city  council 
issued  a  special  law  forbidding  any  one 
to  strike  Jews,  or  assail  them  with  in¬ 
sulting  epithets  on  the  streets.  Such 
laws,  however,  were  of  little  avail.  The 
Jews  were  considered  public  property  as 
far  as  the  right  to  revile,  abuse,  and  tor¬ 
ment  was  concerned.  Every  street  urchin 
looked  upon  the  Jew  as  a  subject  for  ridi¬ 
cule,  and  the  most  venerable,  the  wisest 
and  the  most  learned  Jew  was  compelled 
to  take  off  his  hat  before  any  Christian 
gamin  who  called  out  “Jud\  mack  mores  ! 
Jud\  mack  mores !”  That  in  spite  of 
all  these  abuses  and  hardships  Jews  re¬ 
mained  in  Frankfort  proves  that  they 
were  subjected  to  the  same  treatment  in 
other  places,  and  were  willing  to  submit 
to  outrages  upon  honor  for  the  mere  per¬ 
mission  to  live  in  any  quarter,  however 
uninviting.  They  had  to  be  thankful  for 
this  privilege,  and  were  happy  if  the  insults 
and  abuses  were  not  aggravated  into  rob¬ 
bery,  pillage  and  murder. 

The  J udengasse  of  Frankfort  mirrors  in 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort .  61 

its  story  and  in  the  vicissitudes  of  the  lives 
of  its  inhabitants  the  sad,  heartrending  and 
tragic  history  of  the  Jews  of  Europe  in 
the  centuries  during  which  it  existed.  The 
waves  of  persecution  passed  over  it,  the 
fires  of  oppression  played  about  it,  the 
stones  of  religious  hatred  battered  it,  but 
still  the  Jew  lived  on,  toiled  on,  suffered 
on.  The  two  most  calamitous  affairs  in 
the  Gasse  were  the  Pfefferkorn  and  Fett- 
milch  incidents,  and  because  they  are 
typical  of  like  incidents  elsewhere,  and 
left  a  deep  impress  on  the  community,  a 
short  account  of  them  will  not  be  out  of 
place  in  the  history  of  the  Judengasse  of 
Frankfort. 

John  Pfefferkorn  was  a  converted  Jew. 
He  had  been  a  butcher  and,  as  common 
report  had  it,  had  been  discovered  in  the 
act  of  stealing.  After  his  conversion  to 
Christianity,  like  so  many  of  the  same  ilk, 
he  proceeded  to  vilify  his  former  co-reli¬ 
gionists  in  order  to  give  evidence  of  zeal 
for  his  new  religion.  It  is  supposed  that 
he  was  the  tool  of  the  Dominicans  of 
Cologne,  whose  palms  itched  for  Jewish 


62 


Old  European  Jewries. 

wealth,  chief  among  them  being  Jacob  van 
Hoogstraten,  the  grand  inquisitor.  Begin¬ 
ning  with  the  year  1507,  Pfefferkorn  issued 
a  number  of  writings  against  the  Jews.  In 
that  year  appeared  his  Judenspiegel ,  in 
which  he  heaps  accusations  upon  the  Jews, 
and  shows  what  is  necessary  to  convert 
them  to  Christianity.  One  of  the  means 
he  mentions  points  to  his  later  course  of 
action.  He  says  that  all  the  books  of  the 
Jews,  the  Talmud,  prayer-books,  all  except 
the  Bible,  should  be  taken  from  them  and 
destroyed,  for  they  are  the  source  of  their 
obstinacy,  being  directed  against  Christi¬ 
anity.  The  next  year  witnessed  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  his  diatribe,  “The  Confessions 
of  the  Jews,”  and  in  1509  appeared  his 
pamphlet,  “The  Enemy  of  the  Jews,”  in 
which  he  again  made  an  attack  on  Jewish 
books.  These  publications  against  the 
Jews  were  undoubtedly  intended  to  pre¬ 
pare  the  public  mind  for  active  steps 
against  them.  Through  the  recommenda¬ 
tion  of  Cunigunda,  abbess  of  a  convent  in 
Munich,  Pfefferkorn  obtained  an  interview 
with  her  brother,  Emperor  Maximilian, 


The  Judcngasse  of  Frankfort .  63 

whom  he  induced  to  issue  an  order  com¬ 
manding  the  J ews  to  deliver  to  him  (Pfeffer- 
korn)  all  books  containing  anything  against 
Christianity,  against  the  Pentateuch,  or 
the  Prophets.  He  was  to  be  sole  judge, 
and  his  authority  was  to  extend  through¬ 
out  the  empire.  On  his  return  from  Padua, 
before  which  the  emperor  was  encamped, 
Pfefferkorn  stopped  at  Stuttgart  to  see  the 
celebrated  scholar,  John  Reuchlin,  whom 
he  hoped  to  induce  to  help  him  in  execut¬ 
ing  the  order.  In  this,  however,  he  did  not 
succeed,  as  the  great  humanist,  although 
he  expressed  approval  of  the  suppression 
of  books  that  vilified  the  Christian  religion, 
excused  himself  from  engaging  in  the 
work.  Pfefferkorn,  baffled  in  his  purpose 
of  obtaining  the  assistance  and  counte¬ 
nance  of  Germany’s  greatest  scholar,  pro¬ 
ceeded  alone  on  his  journey,  and  began 
operations  at  Frankfort.  On  Friday,  the 
28th  of  September,  the  eve  of  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles,  he  appeared  in  the  syna¬ 
gogue  with  three  priests  and  two  town- 
councilors.  In  spite  of  the  protests  of  the 
Jews,  he  seized  all  the  books  he  could  lay 


64  Old  European  Jewries . 

hold  of.  The  next  day  he  was  to  search 
the  private  houses,  but  the  Jews  objected 
so  vehemently  against  the  desecration  of 
the  Sabbath  that  it  was  put  off  till  Monday. 
They  saw  and  felt  the  danger  coming. 
They  knew  that  this  confiscation  of  books 
was  only  an  introduction  to  the  assaults 
on  property  and  life  bound  to  follow,  al¬ 
though,  at  the  time,  they  did  not  know 
that  Pfefferkorn  was  hand  in  glove  with 
the  Dominicans,  nor  of  the  designs  of  the 
latter  upon  the  wealth  of  the  Jews.  Ex¬ 
cited  by  the  confiscation,  and  divining  what 
might  follow,  they  put  forth  every  effort 
to  have  Pfefferkorn’s  proceedings  checked. 
With  the  aid  of  the  archbishop,  whose  dig¬ 
nity  had  been  affronted,  because  he  had 
not  been  consulted,  they  succeeded  in  ob¬ 
taining  a  stay  of  the  proceedings.  Nothing 
daunted,  Pfefferkorn  again  visited  the  em¬ 
peror,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  second 
order,  more  explicit  than  the  first.  It 
named  the  committee  of  inquiry  to  look 
into  the  Jewish  books,  and  among  its  mem¬ 
bers  were  Hoogstraten,  the  grand  inquis¬ 
itor  of  the  Dominican  order  ;  John  Reuch- 


1  he  Judengasse  of  Frankfort.  65 

lin,  and  Victor  von  Carben,  “formerly  a 
rabbi  and  now  a  priest.”  To  the  great 
surprise  of  the  conspirators,  Reuchlin  de¬ 
clined  to  serve,  and  wrote  a  defense  of  all 
Jewish  books  except  such  as  contained  di¬ 
rect  aspersions  on  Christianity.  In  it,  he 
told,  in  rather  plain  words,  his  opinion  of 
Pfefferkorn.  The  Jews  were  saved,  as  the 
fight  was  now  on  between  Reuchlin  and 
the  Pfefferkorn  party,  that  is,  the  Domi¬ 
nicans.  Publications  containing  most  bitter 
recriminations  appeared  on  both  sides. 
The  friends  of  the  two  parties  took  up 
the  cudgels,  too,  and  the  result  was  that 
Pfefferkorn  was  so  belabored  that  he  ex¬ 
posed  himself  to  the  ridicule  of  all  times. 
The  greatest  satire  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
Epistolco  Obscurorum  Virorum  appeared 
anonymously  at  this  time.  These  letters 
are  supposed  to  be  the  production  of 
Crotus  Rubianus  and  Ulrich  von  Hutten. 
The  Dominicans,  who  were  supposed  to 
have  inspired  the  actions  of  Pfefferkorn  to 
advance  their  ulterior  designs  against  the 
Jews,  are  ridiculed  in  the  sharpest  possible 
manner.  Pfefferkorn,  too,  comes  in  for 
5 


66 


Old  European  Jewries. 

his  share  of 'satirical  notice,  ridicule  and 
abuse.  So,  for  once,  the  enemy  of  the 
Jews  was  baffled.  What  had  promised  to 
be  the  beginning  of  persistent  outrages 
upon  the  Jews — for  the  confiscation  of 
their  books  would  have  led  to  serious  evils 
and  outbreaks — was  nipped  in  the  bud  by 
the  fortunate  refusal  of  Reuchlin  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  work  inaugurated 
by  Pfefferkorn.  The  Jews  emerged  from 
what  was  unquestionably  a  great  difficulty 
with  the  loss  of  nothing  more  than  what 
money  may  have  been  required  to  bribe 
the  archbishop  and  the  town  councilors  to 
stay  the  proceedings  in  the  first  instance. 
That  they  were  frightened,  we  can  readily 
believe.  The  immediate  steps  they  took 
saved  them. 

The  other  incident  to  which  reference 
was  made  above  was  much  more  serious 
in  its  consequences.  The  guilds  in  Frank¬ 
fort  were  always  very  strong.  They  had 
a  particular  animosity  against  the  Jews, 
and  were  continually  laboring  to  effect 
their  expulsion  from  the  city.  Not  suc¬ 
ceeding  in  this,  an  attack  on  the  Jewish 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort.  67 

quarter  was  determined  upon.  The  leader 
was  a  baker,  Vincent  Fettmilch.  On  Au¬ 
gust  22,  1640,  the  attack  was  made.  The 
Jews,  having  been  warned,  did  not  quietly 
wait  for  the  attack,  but  made  preparations 
to  resist.  They  procured  arms,  removed 
their  wives  and  children  to  the  cemetery  for 
refuge,  locked  the  gates  that  led  into  their 
street,  and  barricaded  the  gate  upon  which 
the  attack  was  expected.  They  then  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  the  synagogue,  and  prayed  and 
fasted.  While  assembled  there,  they  heard 
the  blows  upon  the  gates  and  the  angry 
cries  of  the  mob.  In  terror  they  poured 
out  of  the  synagogue,  men  and  youths  tak¬ 
ing  up  arms  to  defend  themselves.  The 
mob,  foiled  by  the  barricade  of  the  gate, 
broke  into  the  street  through  a  house 
which  stood  next  to  the  gate.  A  bitter 
fight  of  eight  hours  followed;  two  Jews 
and  one  Christian  were  killed,  and  many 
wounded.  The  Jews,  few  in  number,  were 
gradually  overcome.  Then  began  a  fearful 
scene  of  plunder  and  destruction.  The  mob 
rushed  into  the  houses.  They  had  pro¬ 
ceeded  about  half  way  through  the  street 


68  Old  European  Jewries, 

when  a  band  of  armed  citizens  appeared 
and  drove  them  out.  The  Jews,  thor¬ 
oughly  frightened,  hastened  to  seek  ref¬ 
uge  in  their  cemetery,  situated  at  the  end 
of  the  Gasse ,  in  which  they  had  placed  their 
wives  and  children.  They  were  advised 
by  the  town  council  to  leave  the  city,  since 
it  could  not  protect  them.  On  the  next 
day,  they  did  this,  and  for  one  year  and  a 
half  they  remained  away  from  the  city,  and 
lived  in  the  neighboring  towns.  In  the 
meantime,  order  had  been  restored,  and 
steps  were  taken  looking  to  the  return  of 
the  Jews.  The  leaders  of  the  mob,  Fett- 
milch  and  six  others,  were  beheaded.  On 
the  very  day  that  this  took  place,  February 
28,  1616,  the  Jews  returned.  Their  return 
was  celebrated  with  music.  When  they 
arrived  in  front  of  the  Gasse ,  they  were 
formed  into  a  circle,  and  the  new  Juden- 
ordnung,  drawn  up  by  the  imperial  com¬ 
missioners,  was  read  to  them.  The  town 
council  having  shown  itself  so  powerless 
to  guard  them,  the  protection  of  the  Jews 
reverted  to  the  emperor ;  they  once  again 
became  his  private  property.  After  their 


The  yudcngasse  of  Frankfort.  69 

return  into  their  “  street,”  a  large  shield 
was  placed  upon  each  of  the  three  gates, 
upon  which  was  painted  the  imperial  eagle 
with  the  inscription,  “  Under  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  Roman  Imperial  Majesty  and 
of  the  Holy  Empire.”  Strange  to  say,  the 
Christian  population  was  compelled  by 
imperial  mandate  to  pay  the  Jews  175,919 
florins  indemnity  for  the  loss  they  had 
sustained.  In  memory  of  these  events,  the 
Jewish  congregation  of  Frankfort  annually 
celebrated  two  events,  the  19th  of  Adar, 
as  a  fast  day  commemorative  of  their  de¬ 
parture  from  the  city,  and  the  20th  as  a 
holiday,  called  Purim  Fettmilch,  in  memory 
of  their  return. 

The  next  event  of  great  importance  was 
the  complete  destruction  of  the  Gasse  by 
fire  in  1711.  The  population  had  greatly 
increased,  but  the  space  for  habitation  was 
not  enlarged.  The  number  of  houses  did 
not  increase,  and  the  one  hundred  and 
ninety  houses  that,  in  a  former  day,  had 
sheltered  but  two  thousand  persons,  were 
now  the  homes  of  some  eight  thousand,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  smallest  calculation  the  Jew- 


jo  Old  European  Jewries. 

ish  population  at  this  time.  Each  house, 
therefore,  on  an  average  harbored  forty- 
one  persons.  The  Gasse  is  an  example 
of  the  worst  evils  of  the  tenement  system. 
On  January  14,  171 1,  fire  broke  out  in  the 
house  of  the  chief  rabbi,  which  stood  in 
the  middle  of  the  “street.”  The  cause  of 
the  fire  was  never  discovered.  It  wiped 
out  the  Jewish  quarter  completely,  and 
was  called  the  great  Jewish  conflagration, 
in  contradistinction  to  the  great  Christian 
conflagration  eight  years  later.  The  Chris¬ 
tian  population,  as  soon  as  the  fact  of  the 
raging  of  the  fire  became  known,  hurried 
to  the  Gasse  to  give  assistance.  But  the 
Jews,  in  an  agony  of  terror,  and  remem¬ 
bering  former  days,  had  locked  the  gates 
for  fear  of  plunder,  and  kept  them  closed 
for  an  hour.  When,  at  last,  they  opened 
them  the  flames  had  grained  great  head- 
way.  The  fire  spread  throughout  the 
quarter,  and  with  the  exception  of  three 
houses  standing  at  the  extreme  end  of  the 
street,  everything  was  destroyed.  The 
Jews,  now  homeless,  had  to  look  about  for 
shelter.  Some  were  harbored  in  Christian 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort,  71 

houses.  After  the  “  street  ”  was  rebuilt, 
they  lingered  in  these  houses  with  the 
hope  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  re¬ 
main  outside  the  Gasse,  and  have  freedom 
of  residence,  but  they  were  all  ordered 
back  in  1716.  Some  who  could  not  find 
shelter  in  the  city,  settled  in  neighboring 
towns,  until  their  homes  were  rebuilt, 
while  the  very  poor  were  placed,  by  the 
town  council,  in  a  hospital,  to  sojourn 
there  until  their  dwelling  places  were  re¬ 
stored.  The  rebuilding  began  almost  at 
once.  The  synagogue  was  completed  by 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  It  stood 
until  1854,  when  the  large  and  beautiful 
building,  dedicated  in  i860,  was  built  in  its 
place.  By  the  year  1717  all  the  houses 
were  rebuilt.  In  the  process  of  recon¬ 
struction  the  street  was  widened  by  four 
feet,  so  that  it  was  twenty  feet  wide. 
Houses  of  not  more  than  three  stories 
were  permitted  to  be  built,  but  most  of 
them  had  gables.  Back  buildings  one 
story  higher  were  erected,  hence  the  yards 
were  very  small,  but  by  decree  each  house 
had  to  be  six  feet  from  the  wall  alone  the 


72 


Old  European  Jewries. 

back  of  the  Gasse.  On  the  houses  they 
were  compelled  to  place  signs,  with  pecul¬ 
iar  figures  and  names,  so  that  they  were 
known  as  the  house  of  the  bear,  the 
dragon,  of  the  white,  green,  red,  black 
shield,  etc.  The  inhabitants  were  desig¬ 
nated  according  to  these  figures,  e.  g.  the 
Jew  N.  N.  zum  Baren ,  etc.  The  Roth¬ 
schild  family  received  its  name  from  the 
red  shield  that  marked  its  house. 

The  “street”  again  suffered  from  fire  in 
1 774  and  in  1796.  In  the  former  instance 
twenty-one  houses  were  destroyed.  The 
inhabitants  rented  houses  without  the 
Gasse  for  two  years  until  their  homes  were 
rebuilt,  when  they  again  had  to  return.  In 
the  latter  year,  the  fire  assumed  larger 
dimensions,  and  one  hundred  and  forty 
houses  were  destroyed.  This  was  during 
the  bombardment  of  the  city  by  the  French 
under  Kleber,  July  12  to  14.  This  por¬ 
tion,  called  Bornheimer  Strasse ,  was  soon 
rebuilt,  and  very  greatly  improved  by 
being  widened  and  having  fine  buildings 
erected  upon  it. 

The  Judengasse  was  now  approaching 


The  Jndcngasse  of  Frankfort .  73 

its  end.  Better  days  were  beginning  to 
dawn  for  the  Jews.  The  breath  of  free¬ 
dom  and  emancipation  characteristic  of  the 
close  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  this 
century  was  wafted  upon  them,  too.  In 
1806,  Frankfort  and  some  neighboring 
districts  were  placed  under  the  jurisdic¬ 
tion  of  the  enlightened  and  kindly  Karl 
Theodor  von  Dal  berg,  the  F first  Primas . 
He  took  great  interest  in  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  Jews  of  his  domain,  and 
assisted  them  greatly  in  their  efforts 
towards  self-advancement,  in  the  founding 
of  schools,  and  the  like.  In  1811  he 
granted  them  full  rights  of  citizenship, 
but  in  the  reaction  that  ensued  shortly 
after,  he  was  deprived  of  his  rule,  and  the 
Jews  lost  the  rights  he  had  granted  them. 

After  the  fall  of  Napoleon  and  the  con¬ 
sequent  relapse  into  mediaevalism  and  me¬ 
diaeval  legislation  against  the  Jews  in 
the  German  states  and  cities,  the  Jews 
of  Frankfort  suffered,  too.  The  hep-hep 
cry  again  resounded  in  the  streets,  the 
Jewish  houses  were  attacked,  the  Jews 
driven  from  the  promenades.  In  conse- 


74  Old  European  Jewries . 

quence  of  these  disturbances  many  Jewish 
families  left  the  city.  The  second  and 
third  decades  of  this  century  were  a  gloomy 
time  for  the  Jews  of  Germany  ;  the  eman¬ 
cipation  question  was  uppermost,  and  gal¬ 
lantly  did  the  Jewish  champions,  headed 
by  Gabriel  Riesser,  conduct  the  struggle. 
In  this  agitation  the  Jews  of  Frankfort 
were  likewise  concerned,  and  in  1848  they 
once  again  gained  the  right  of  citizenship, 
but  in  1850  they  lost  it,  to  receive  it  a 
third  time  in  1864.  Since  then  they  have 
retained  it,  and,  of  course,  as  far  as  politi¬ 
cal  rights  are  concerned,  are  now  on  an 
equal  footing  with  all  citizens  of  the  Ger¬ 
man  Empire. 

A  few  words  more  about  the  Gassc. 
Even  after  it  had  been  rebuilt  after  the 
great  fire  of  1711,  it  was  as  gloomy  and 
cheerless  as  it  had  been.  The  high,  gabled 
houses  built  so  close  together  naturally 
kept  out  all  sunlight  and  air.  So  it  con¬ 
tinued — except  in  the  western  portion, 
which  was  burnt  in  1796,  and  rebuilt,  as 
stated  above — until  the  year  1830,  when  a 
laro^e  number  of  the  houses  were  con- 

o 


The  yudengasse  of  Frankfort.  75 

demned  by  the  city  authorities  because  of 
their  ruinous  condition,  and  their  removal 
from  both  sides  of  the  street  produced 
empty  spaces  through  which  the  air  could 
circulate.  As  soon  as  the  note  of  emanci¬ 
pation  was  struck,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  many  Jews  removed  from  the 
Gasse,  nor  were  they  compelled  to  return 
thither.  The  empty  houses  were  rented, 
and  occupied  by  the  poorer  classes  of 
Christians,  so  that,  except  in  name  and 
memory,  it  was  no  longer  distinctively  the 
fudcngasse ,  the  Jewish  quarter.  Two  of 
the  houses  were  of  especial  interest,  that 
in  which  Lob  Baruch,  or,  as  he  is  known 
in  German  literature,  Ludwig  Borne,  was 
born,  and  the  ancestral  home  of  the  Roth¬ 
schild  family. 

About  ten  years  ago,  the  houses  in  the 
old  portion  of  the  street  fell  in  because  of 
age  and  decay.  They  were  demolished  and 
removed,  with  the  exception  of  the  Roth¬ 
schild  house.  This  portion  of  the  street 
was  then  broadened  to  a  width  equal  to 
that  of  Bornheimer  Strasse,  the  section  of 
the  old  street  which  had  been  improved 


j6  Old  European  Jewries. 

and  widened  in  the  early  part  of  the  cen¬ 
tury,  and  the  two  portions  became  one 
street,  the  present  Borne  Strasse,  a  wide 
thoroughfare,  possessing  no  similarity  to 
the  old,  narrow  Gasse.  A  great  portion  of 
the  street  remains  to  be  built  up.  The  old 
wall  that  separated  the  street  in  the  early 
days  from  the  old  quarter  of  the  city  is  still 
standing  ;  a  street  leading  to  Borne  Strasse 
has  been  broken  through  it. 

One  important  relic  of  the  old  time  is 
still  preserved  ;  at  the  very  end  of  what  is 
now  Borne  Strasse,  and  what  was  formerly 
the  Judengasse ,  enclosed  by  a  high  wall, 
and  hidden  from  the  view  of  the  passer-by, 
lies  the  old  cemetery62  of  the  Frankfort 
Jewish  congregation,  containing,  with  the 
exception  of  some  in  the  cemetery  at 
Worms,  the  oldest  epitaph  in  western 
Europe.  This  was  the  spot  to  which  the 
Jews  removed  their  wives  and  children  and 
helpless  ones  during  the  persecutions  and 
the  attacks  made  on  the  Gasse  by  the 
mobs.63  The  cemetery  is  now  in  a  sad 
state  of  neglect ;  many  of  the  stones 
have  fallen  to  the  ground,  and  lie  in 


The  yudengasse  of  Frankfort \  77 

great  confusion,  and  many  are  beginning 
to  crumble.  In  the  eastern  end  of  the 
graveyard  the  graves  are  thick  and  close 
together.  Near  the  entrance  there  are 
but  few  tombstones,  only  a  number  of 
small  groups,  here  and  there.  This  is  ex¬ 
plained  by  the  surmise  that  the  eastern 
portion  was  set  aside  for  the  burial  of 
Frankfort  Jews,  while  the  smaller  groups 
of  graves  are  those  of  small  communi¬ 
ties  in  the  vicinity  of  Frankfort,  which 
made  use  of  this  burying  ground  for  the 
interment  of  their  dead.  The  cemetery 
is  large,  and  contains  over  six  thousand 
tombstones.  The  inscriptions  on  these 
stones  offer  much  material  to  the  student 
of  Jewish  history  and  customs.  “Of  the 
immense  store  which  the  cemetery  at 
Frankfort-on-the-Main  offers,  only  a  slight 
portion  has  been  published.”64  This  state¬ 
ment  is  true,  but  all  the  inscriptions  have 
been  copied  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Dr.  Horowitz,  the  rabbi  of  the  new 
synagogue  overlooking  the  old  cemetery. 
He  has  collated  them,  and  ere  long  the 
learned  world  may  be  enriched  by  their 


78  Old  European  Jewries. 

publication.  The  earliest  tombstone  in 
the  cemetery  dates  from  the  year  1272; 
the  last  burial  took  place  in  1828,  when 
the  town  council  decreed  that  it  should 
be  no  longer  used  for  purposes  of  burial, 
and  that  it  should  lie  undisturbed  for  one 
hundred  years.  The  graves  are  two  and 
three  deep,  perhaps  more,  the  surface 
having  been  covered  over  with  additional 
layers  of  earth  whenever  the  available  space 
had  been  used.  This  appears  from  two 
facts :  in  the  first  place,  the  burial  ground 
proper  is  higher  than  the  adjacent  walks ; 
and  there  are  often  two  or  three  stones 
on  the  same  grave.  The  stones  are  of  red 
sandstone,  with  the  exception  of  the  oldest, 
which  are  gray.  These  have  stood  the 
wear  of  time  best ;  they  are  still  thoroughly 
well  preserved,  while  many  of  the  later 
ones  are  crumbling.  The  inscriptions  are 
for  the  most  part  legible,  and  some  of  the 
stones  display  very  artistic  work,  the  sign 
of  the  house  in  which  the  departed  had 
lived  often  being  carved  on  them,65  so  that 
there  are  stones  ornamented  with  figures 
of  dragons,  bears,  lions,  stars,  and  the  like. 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort.  79 

The  most  beautiful  piece  of  work  is  on  a 
stone  belonging  to  a  family  Trach  (dr ache) 
— a  dragon  most  artistically  hewn,  and 
sculptured  flowers  on  the  rim. 

Very  celebrated  rabbis  lie  buried  here, 
in  fact,  all  the  rabbis  of  the  Frankfort  con¬ 
gregation,  among  them  the  author  of  the 
celebrated  P'ne  Yehoshuah  and  Rabbi 
Pinchas  Hurwitz.66 

Walking  through  this  cemetery,  where 
now  all  is  peace  and  rest  and  quiet,  I  could 
not  but  think  of  the  terrible  days  of  the 
past,  and  the  scenes  this  spot  had  wit¬ 
nessed,  and  there  arose  before  me  the 
vision  of  the  hundreds  of  unfortunates, 
who,  in  that  terrible  night  of  September 
1,  1614,  during  the  Fettmilch  attack,  were 
massed  in  the  '‘home  of  the  dead,”  about 
the  graves  of  their  fathers.  When  all  op¬ 
position  was  seen  to  be  fruitless,  the  men 
repaired  to  the  place  to  which,  in  the  ear¬ 
lier  period  of  the  affray,  they  had  moved 
their  wives  and  children.  All  hope  seemed 
cutoff.  “We  will  sanctify  the  name  of 
God,”  cried  they.  They  donned  their 
shrouds,  and  determined  to  meet  death 


8o  Old  European  Jewries . 

rather  than  disgrace.  They  prepared  them¬ 
selves  for  the  supreme  moment  by  giving 
voice  to  the  confession  of  their  sinfulness 
and  their  belief  in  the  divine  justice.  With 
terror  and  trembling  they  awaited  the 
dawning  of  another  day.  A  report  came 
to  their  ears  that  the  mob  had  disagreed. 
Yes,  it  was  true  ;  by  the  aid  of  the  town 
council  they  made  their  escape  from  the 
cemetery,  and  with  their  bare  lives,  home¬ 
less,  houseless,  they  left  Frankfort  to  seek 
shelter  in  the  surrounding  towns.67 

A  troubled  vision  of  the  night  of  the 
past,  by  contrast  making  the  present  all 
the  brighter ! 

To  return  now  to  the  Ghetto  :  The 
houses  of  the  Gasse  were  all  very  much 
alike.  They  were  frame,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  one  stone  house.  On  account  of 
the  gloom  of  the  street  they  were  very 
dark  inside.  Some  points  of  their  inner 
construction  furnish  eloquent  testimony  of 
the  times  in  which  they  were  built  and  the 
continual  fear  of  attack  and  persecution  in 
which  their  occupants  lived.  Many  of  the 
houses  had  no  steps  leading  to  the  roof, 


The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort.  81 

only  a  ladder,  which  could  be  pulled  up 
by  those  who  had  fled  to  the  roof  from 
their  pursuers.  For  a  like  reason,  namely, 
protection  in  time  of  danger  from  the  out¬ 
breaks  of  mobs,  the  cellars  of  neighboring 
houses  were  connected  by  doors,  concealed 
by  cupboards.  Through  these  doors  the 
occupants  of  the  houses,  if  hard  pressed, 
could  flee  into  the  cellar  of  the  adjoining 
residence.  Thank  God  that  such  precau¬ 
tions  are  no  longer  necessary  !  In  the  new 
and  better  time,  the  Jew  is  not  marked  off 
by  his  place  of  residence ;  justice  being 
done,  the  marks  of  oppression  have  disap¬ 
peared.  The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort  is 
no  more.  The  memories  of  the  days  of 
persecution  are  permitted  to  sink  into  ob¬ 
livion.  The  veil  of  forgiveness  has  been 
dropped  over  them  by  those  so  deeply 
wronged,  and  in  this  new  time  the  Jews  of 
Frankfort  have  assimilated  themselves 
with  their  fellow  citizens,  and  stand  on  an 
equal  footing  with  them  in  all  civic  in¬ 
terests. 


6 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  .JUDENSTADT  OF  PRAGUE. 

To  the  tourist  visiting  the  city  of  Prague, 
by  far  the  most  interesting  spot  in  this 
gloomy,  gray  place  is  the  old  J  ewish  quar¬ 
ter  lying  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river 
Moldau,  of  old  designated  Judenstadt ,  but 
now  known  as  Josef stadt.  This  ancient 

quarter  with  its  narrow  streets,  its  old 
*  synagogues,  its  burying  ground  famed  in 
story,  its  town  hall  reminiscent  of  the  days 
when  the  Jewish  administrative  body  ex¬ 
ercised  judicial  functions,  its  legends,  its 
history,  cannot  but  awaken  a  mournful 
train  of  thought  in  him  who,  permitting 
his  mind  to  dwell  on  the  past,  recalls  the 
sad,  sad  fate  of  this  Ghetto,  with  one  ex¬ 
ception  probably  the  oldest  Jewish  settle¬ 
ment  north  of  the  Alps.  Not  a  single 
street,  as  in  Frankfort,  but  a  whole  section 
of  the  city  did  the  J  ewish  quarter  of  Prague 
comprise.  It  is  standing  much  as  it  was, 

(82) 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague .  83 

but  it  is  no  longer  the  compulsory  dwelling 
place  of  Jews,  although  largely  inhabited 
by  them.  Many  Christians,  especially 
of  the  poorer  classes,  now  dwell  there  too. 
The  walls  and  gates,  which  in  the  old  days 
separated  the  Jewish  quarter  from  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  city,  have  disappeared,  but 
the  spot  in  which  they  stood  is  still  pointed 
out.  The  streets  scarcely  deserve  to  be 
called  such,  so  narrow,  crowded,  dark  and 
gloomy  are  they.  The  houses  on  either 
side  tower  aloft,  shutting  out  the  sunlight, 
so  that  even  on  a  bright  day  the  lanes  rest 
in  shadow.  Many  stirring  scenes  have 
these  streets  witnessed.  Had  the  stones 
tongues,  what  stories  could  they  tell  of 
mobs  and  plunder,  of  persecution  and 
murder,  of  incendiarism  and  robbery,  of 
fight  and  strife,  of  bravery  and  martyr¬ 
dom,  of  silent  suffering  and  heroic  endur¬ 
ance  !  The  history  of  the  Jewish  commu¬ 
nity  of  Prague  dates  from  days  long  past, 
through  many  centuries,  during  which  it 
proudly  claimed  to  be  the  greatest  and 
most  important  congregation  in  Europe. 
Great  names  of  celebrated  rabbis,  writers 


84  Old  European  Jewries . 

and  heroes,  shed  lustre  over  that  old 
Judenstadt,  and  make  it  shine  with  a  glory 
that  will  never  fade.  Dark  spots  there 
are,  too,  of  superstition,  for  there  is  no 
Jewish  community  in  the  world  so  full  of 
superstitions,  legends  and  traditions  as 
this  of  Prague,  but  these  gradually  disap¬ 
pear  in  the  light  of  investigation,  while  the 
true  and  great  things  there  thought  and 
accomplished  live  on  forever. 

The  early  history  of  the  Jews  of  Prague 
is  shrouded  in  mystery.  Concerning  the 
time  when  they  first  settled  in  the  city,  or 
entered  Bohemia,  there  is  no  authentic  in¬ 
formation.  The  statement  that  a  flourish¬ 
ing  Jewish  community  existed  in  Prague 
during  the  time  of  the  second  Temple 
must  be  regarded  as  purely  legendary. 
That  there  were  many  Jews  in  Prague 
during  the  earliest  Christian  centuries  may 
be  true,  but  there  is  no  contemporary  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  fact;  that  Jews  may  have 
lived  in  the  city  in  quite  ancient  times  is 
very  possible,  but  the  date  of  their  first 
entrance  into  the  land  and  their  earliest 
settlement  cannot  be  fixed.  There  can  be 


The  yudenstadt  of  Prague ,  85 

no  doubt  that  Jews  lived  in  Bohemia  and 
in  Prague  in  heathen  times,  before  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  in  the  tenth 
century.68  Their  first  settlement  lay  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river  Moldau.  When 
their  numbers  increased  and  their  quarters 
became  too  small,  they  were  assigned,  in 
all  likelihood  in  the  eleventh  century,  a 
new  and  larger  dwelling  place  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  the  present  Josef stadt. 
The  Jews  were  not  compelled  to  live  in 
this  one  section.  They  dwelt  in  various 
quarters  of  the  city  until  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  (1473),  when,  after 
a  destructive  pestilence  that  decimated  the 
population,  all  the  Jews  not  yet  in  the 
Judenstadt  determined  to  cast  in  their  lot 
with  their  brethren  there,  and  so  all  were 
merged  into  the  one  great  community,69 
which  became  “a  mother  in  Israel,”  an 
influential  congregation.  Great  rabbis 
flourished  there,  schools  of  Jewish  learn¬ 
ing  arose  and  prospered,  men  and  women 
whose  names  are  honored  in  history  lived 
their  life  in  this  Ghetto,  and  all  the  phe¬ 
nomena  that  characterize  mediaeval  Jewish 


86  Old  European  Jewries. 

history  appeared  there.  Sacred  memories, 
indeed,  this  Ghetto  cherishes,  and  dark 
happenings,  too,  that  speak  ill  for  human 
kind ;  grand  achievements  of  learning, 
heroism  and  philanthropy  brighten  its  an¬ 
nals,  but  oages  blackened  with  the  record  of 
internal  strife  and  superstition  peep  forth, 
too.  In  this  long  history  of  centuries  are 
mirrored  the  manifold  acts  that  make  up 
the  sum  of  human  endeavor,  and  the  record 
of  the  Jewish  community  of  Prague,  with 
its  lights  and  shadows,  its  glories  and  de¬ 
gradations,  presents  a  faithful  picture  of 
the  course  of  human  life  as  it  ebbed  and 
flowed  in  the  narrow  confines  of  Jewry 
during  the  centuries  that  preceded  the 
emancipation  of  the  present. 

First,  as  to  the  external  history  of  the 
community.  It  was  subject  to  many  per¬ 
secutions  and  expulsions  and  extortions. 
The  story  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Jews  everywhere.  During  the  crusades, 
the  time  fraught  with  so  much  misery  for 
these  hapless  ones,  when  the  mobs  fell 
upon  the  Jewish  communities,  and  murder, 
carnage  and  plunder  held  high  carnival, 


87 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague . 

the  Judenstadt  of  Prague  came  in  for  its 
share  of  the  gentle  mercies  of  the  crusad¬ 
ers.  Drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  victims 
whom  they  had  slaughtered  or  driven  to 
death  in  the  German  cities,  the  crusaders 
came  to  Bohemia,  attacked  the  Jews 
of  Prague,  dragged  them  to  baptism, 
and  killed  those  who  resisted.  In  vain 
good  Bishop  Cosmas  preached  against 
these  terrible  proceedings ;  the  crusaders 
paid  no  heed  to  his  words.70  This  was  in 
the  year  1099.  During  the  third  crusade 
the  mobs  on  their  way  to  Palestine  passed 
through  Bohemia,  and  in  Prague  demanded 
money  from  the  Jews.  They  refused  to 
comply  with  this  request,  and  the  crusad¬ 
ers  resorted  to  violence.  It  is  refreshing 
to  note  that  the  Jews  resisted  so  success¬ 
fully  that  the  crusaders  were  forced  to  draw 
off  without  having  accomplished  their  ob¬ 
ject.71 

In  the  year  1389  occurred  the  most  ter¬ 
rible  persecution  to  which  the  Jews  of 
Prague  were  ever  subjected.  On  Easter 
Sunday  (April  18)  of  that  year,  a  priest 
carrying  the  pyx  was  passing  through  the 


88  Old  European  Jewries, 

Jewish  quarter.  Some  Jewish  children 
were  playing  in  the  sand  on  the  street  (it 
was  the  last  day  of  Passover),  pelting  one 
another  with  pebbles.  Some  of  the  peb¬ 
bles  chanced  to  strike  the  priest,  which  so 
enraged  him  and  those  who  accompanied 
him  that  they  abused  the  children  shame¬ 
fully.  The  parents  of  the  children,  alarmed 
by  their  cries,  hastened  to  the  spot  to  aid 
them.  The  priest  now  hurried  away  into 
the  city,  crying  aloud  that  his  office  had 
been  desecrated  by  the  Jews,  that  they 
had  pelted  him  with  stones,  so  that  the 
host  had  fallen  from  his  hands.  There¬ 
upon  the  citizens  of  Prague  descended 
upon  the  homes  of  the  Jews,  and  offered 
them  the  alternative  of  baptism  or  death. 
The  J  ews,  refusing  to  forswear  their 
faith,  were  murdered  by  the  thousands 
on  that  day  and  the  following  night. 
Many  Jews,  among  others  the  aged  rabbi, 
killed  their  own  dear  ones  to  save  them 
from  the  fury  of  the  mob,  and  then  them¬ 
selves.  The  synagogues,  with  one  excep¬ 
tion,  were  destroyed,  and  even  the  dead 
were  not  left  in  peace.  The  great  ceme- 


The  Ju  dens  tacit  of  Prague.  89 

tery  was  devastated,  the  tombstones  were 
destroyed 72  (so  that  there  is  now  no  stone 
in  the  cemetery  dating  from  earlier  than 
the  fifteenth  century),  and  the  corpses 
were  disinterred,  stripped,  and  left  to  rot 
on  the  streets.  The  pope,  more  merciful, 
issued  a  bull  on  July  2,  denouncing  these 
barbarities,  and  referring  to  the  edict  of 
Innocent  IV,  which  forbade  the  forcible 
baptism  of  the  Jews,  or  the  interference 
with  them  on  their  holidays.  The  king, 
Wenceslaus,  declared  that  the  Jews  de¬ 
served  their  fate,  because  they  had  had  the 
hardihood  to  leave  their  houses  on  Easter 
Sunday  and  appear  on  the  streets.  It  was 
a  canon  law  that  the  Jews  should  not  be 
seen  on  the  streets  during  Holy  Week,  and 
the  law  was  wise,  for  collisions  were  bound 
to  take  place  between  the  followers  of  the 
two  religions.  Some  Jews,  without  doubt, 
would  take  occasion  to  mock,  so  that  the 
command  to  remain  in-doors  was  well-in¬ 
tentioned.  Indeed  it  has  been  maintained 
that  this  terrible  persecution  arose  from 
the  fact  that  some  Jews  mocked  the 
priest.73 


go  Old  European  Jewries, 

Many  of  the  greatest  evils  were  brought 
upon  the  Jews  by  apostates,  who  often 
thought  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  their 
new  comrades  by  bringing  accusations  and 
spreading  calumnies  against  their  old  co¬ 
religionists.  Their  method  usually  was  to 
declare  that  here  and  there  in  the  Jewish 
writings  there  was  some  attack  upon  Chris¬ 
tianity  or  its  founder.  By  specious  argu¬ 
ments  they  worked  up  the  easily  influenced 
populace  and  priesthood  (for  the  most  part 
ignorant  and  not  understanding  one  word 
of  Hebrew)  against  the  Jews,  and  in  spite 
of  protest,  declarations  that  the  accusa¬ 
tions  were  false,  the  deposition  of  clear 
proof,  and  the  explanation  of  the  passages 
in  question,  the  unfortunates,  condemned 
by  public  opinion  no  matter  what  they 
might  say,  always  had  to  suffer.  As  though 
their  cup  of  bitterness  were  not  full  enough, 
the  Jews  had  to  bear  with  ills  inflicted  on 
them  by  those  who  had  gone  forth  from 
their  own  midst.  At  the  end  of  the  four¬ 
teenth  century  (1399),  one  of  these  con¬ 
verted  Jews,  by  name  Pesach,  changed 
into  Peter  with  his  change  of  religion, 


9i 


The  Judens tacit  of  Prague, 

leveled  a  new  accusation  against  his  former 
brethren  in  faith  by  declaring  that  a  blas¬ 
phemous  charge  against  Jesus  is  contained 
in  that  sublime  concluding  prayer  of  the 
Jewish  service  known  as  Alemi,  which  gives 
expression  to  the  belief  in  the  unity  of 
God  and  to  the  hope  for  the  time  when 
superstition  and  idolatry  will  disappear,  and 
God  alone  will  be  recognized.  The  lie 
was  credited,  many  Jews  of  Prague  were 
arrested,  seventy-seven  executed,  and  three 
publicly  burnt.74 

So  rose  and  fell  the  waves  of  Jewish 
life  ;  the  Jews  were  only  a  tolerated  class. 
The  story  is  the  same  all  over  Europe ; 
they  were  subject  to  caprice  of  ruler  and 
mob.  It  must  not  be  imagined  that  there 
was  continual  persecution  ;  there  were 
many  intervals  of  peace,  in  which  the  reg¬ 
ular  avocations  of  life  were  calmly  pursued, 
but  at  any  moment  the  peace  might  be 
broken,  and  new  miseries  fall  to  the  lot  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Ghetto.  Of  course, 
the  petty  persecutions  to  which  Jews 
were  subjected  everywhere,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Prague  Ghetto  experienced.  The 


cp  Old  European  Jewries. 

compulsion  to  wear  the  distinguishing 
mark  on  their  clothes,  the  prohibition  to 
employ  Christian  nurses  for  their  children, 
and  many  other  like  prohibitions  embit¬ 
tered  their  lives,  but  they  grew  accustomed 
to  these  things,  too.  They  had  to  pay  ex¬ 
tra  taxes  of  various  kinds.  Time  and  again 
they  were  threatened  with  expulsion  from 
the  land,  and  it  was  only  by  the  ex¬ 
penditure  of  great  sums  that  they  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  staying  the  execution  of  the  de¬ 
cree.  Rulers  and  people  seem  to  have 
lost  all  human  feeling  in  dealing  with  the 
Jews.  Even  in  the  possession  of  their 
books  and  writings  they  were  not  left 
undisturbed.  The  confiscations  and  burn¬ 
ing  of  Jewish  books,  alleged  to  contain 
blasphemies  against  Christianity  and  its 
founder,  form  an  interesting  chapter  in  the 
account  of  the  mediaeval  oppression  of  the 
Jews.75  For  instance,  in  the  year  1559, 
all  Jewish  books  and  manuscripts  found 
in  the  Jewish  quarter  of  Prague,  including 
prayer  books,  eighty  hundred-weight  in  all, 
were  confiscated,  and  sent  to  Vienna.  In 
the  same  year  a  conflagration  broke  out 


93 


The  Judcnstadt  of  Pi' ague. 

in  the  Jewish  quarter,  and  destroyed  a 
great  number  of  dwellings.  Instead  of 
assisting  the  unfortunates  to  quench  the 
fire,  the  Christian  populace  threw  weak 
women  into  the  flames,  and  plundered 
where  they  could.  Two  years  later,  in  1561, 
Ferdinand  I,  who  had  long  been  working 
towards  that  end,  ordered  their  expulsion 
from  the  city.  For  years  they  had  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  preventing  the  carrying  out  of 
the  dread  order,  but  now  they  were  com¬ 
pelled  to  wander  forth.  The  emperor  met 
all  appeals  to  reconsider  the  decree  with 
the  statement  that  he  had  vowed  to  expel 
the  Jews  from  Prague,  and  could  not 
break  his  oath.  Yet  was  the  expulsion  re¬ 
voked,  and  that,  too,  in  a  most  unexpected 
and  dramatic  manner.  Mordecai  Zemach 
Kohen,  a  Jew  of  Prague,  whose  tomb¬ 
stone  still  stands  in  the  great  cemetery,  de¬ 
termined,  if  possible,  to  rescue  his  brethren 
from  the  terrible  calamity.  He  journeyed 
to  Rome,  by  some  means  obtained  an 
audience  with  Pope  Pius  IV,  received  a 
dispensation  absolving  the  emperor  from 
his  vow,  and  the  Jews  were  permitted  to 
return  in  March  of  the  following  year,76 


94 


Old  European  Jewries. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury  there  were  about  ten  thousand  Jews 
in  Prague,77  and  they  were  quite  prosper¬ 
ous.  There  had  been  a  lull  in  the  perse¬ 
cutions.  Under  the  emperors  Rudolph 
and  Matthias  the  Jewish  quarter  attained 
unexampled  splendor.  Mordecai  Meisel, 
the  great  benefactor  of  the  Prague  Jewish 
community,  lived  during  this  time  (1548 — 
1601).  The  emperors  had  issued  privi¬ 
leges  and  shown  much  favor  to  individual 
Jews,  notably  Meisel  and  Jacob  Bassewi. 
The  latter  was  afterwards  ennobled  on  ac¬ 
count  of  his  services  to  the  imperial  house, 
took  the  name  of  von  Treuenberg,  and 
was  permitted  to  adopt  a  coat  of  arms 
(blue  lion  and  eight  red  stars  on  a  blue 
background).  These  privileges  to  indi¬ 
vidual  Jews  redounded  to  the  benefit  of 
the  community  at  large,  and  the  people 
enjoyed  happy  days.  But  with  the  Bohe¬ 
mian  revolt  in  1619,  an  early  incident  of 
the  bloody  Thirty  Years’  War,  the  happy 
condition  of  the  Jews’  quarter  changed  al¬ 
most  in  a  twinkling.  The  adherents  of 
the  Protestant  elector  palatine,  Frederick, 


The  Judens tacit  of  Prague,  95 

king  of  Bohemia,  made  the  Jewish  quar¬ 
ter  the  object  of  pillaging  attack,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Jews  to  the 
Catholic  imperial  house.  This  loyalty 
brought  them  fitting  reward.  At  the  cel¬ 
ebrated  battle  of  White  Mountain,  No¬ 
vember  8,  1620,  the  imperial  troops  gained 
a  decided  victory,  and  at  once  proceeded 
to  invest  the  capital  city  of  Prague.  Now 
followed  days  and  weeks  of  plunder  and 
bloodshed,  but,  marvelous  to  say,  the 
Jews,  always  the  first  victims  on  such  oc¬ 
casions,  were  unexpectedly  protected.  The 
commander  of  the  imperial  forces,  remem¬ 
bering  the  faithfulness  of  the  Jews  to  his 
cause,  stationed  guards  before  the  gates 
.of  the  Jewish  quarter,  and  thus  this  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  city  was  saved  from  the  hor¬ 
rors  of  war  rampant  in  all  other  quarters 
of  the  town.  In  remembrance  of  this  un¬ 
expected  deliverance,  the  rabbinate  ap 
pointed  the  day,  the  14th  of  Marcheshwan, 
an  annual  fast  and  feast  day,  the  forenoon 
to  be  spent  in  fasting,  in  memory  of  the 
tribulation  and  terror  of  the  people  before 
deliverance  came  ;  the  afternoon  in  feast- 


g6  Old  European  Jewries. 

ing,  in  memory  of  the  salvation.  This  day 
was  known  as  the  Prague  Purim.78  The 
rich  Jews  of  Prague  were  granted  permis¬ 
sion  to  purchase  the  houses  abandoned  by 
the  Protestants  who  had  sought  safety  in 
flight. 

Emperor  Ferdinand  continued  to  show 
favor  to  the  Jews  of  Prague.  In  1623  he 
issued  a  privilegium  from  Ratisbon,  in 
which  it  was  decreed  that  the  Jews  of 
Prague  were  not  to  be  held  responsible 
for  the  debts  of  the  Jews  of  the  rest  of 
Bohemia,  and  that  they  need  pay  no  higher 
taxes  than  the  Christians.  The  allegations 
of  the  elders  of  the  community  of  Prague 
were  to  be  respected,  and  the  Jews  of 
Bohemia  were  to  be  permitted  to  pursue 
trade  without  hindrance.  In  1628  he 
enlarged  these  privileges,  and  ordered  the 
Jews  to  pay  40,000  fl.  yearly,  and  so  free 
themselves  from  all  other  taxes. 

During  the  whole  long  struggle,  the 
Jews  continued  faithful  to  the  imperial 
house.  The  war  was  ended  in  Prague, 
where  it  had  be^un.  When  the  Swedes 
approached  the  city,  and  besieged  it,  the 


97 


The  jfudenstadt  oj  Prague . 

Jewish  quarter,  which  lay  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  was  especially  open  to  their  at¬ 
tacks,  and  the  Jews  threw  up  a  redoubt, 
known  as  the  Jews’  redoubt.  The  quarter 
was  bombarded,  and  the  inhabitants  suf¬ 
fered  greatly.  When  the  nobles  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Prague  went  forth  to  do 
battle  with  the  enemy,  the  Jews  were  left 
behind  to  patrol  and  guard  the  city.  They 
were  continually  engaged  in  repairing  the 
gaps  made  in  the  fortifications  and  in 
throwing  up  new  redoubts.  Several  of 
them  lost  their  lives.  The  treaty  of  West¬ 
phalia  brought  the  contest  to  an  end,  and 
the  evil  days  were  past.  In  celebration  of 
the  cessation  of  the  siege  and  the  deliver¬ 
ance  of  the  city,  the  Jews  had  a  public  pro¬ 
cession  with  music,  and  at  the  head  of  the 
line  of  march  were  carried  two  flags  pre¬ 
sented  to  them  by  former  emperors.  As 
a  reward  for  their  bravery  and  constancy 
during  the  siege,  they  were  given  permis¬ 
sion  to  have  a  small  bell  in  the  Jewish 
town  hall  to  call  the  people  together  when 
important  matters  were  to  be  decided.79 
Besides,  in  recognition  of  their  action  on 
7 


98  Old  European  Jewries. 

this  occasion,  Emperor  Ferdinand  III  in 
creased  their  privileges  and  rights  by 
granting  them  permission  to  live  in  all 
imperial  cities  and  possessions,  from  which 
they  were  not  to  be  expelled  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  emperor.  They  were  also 
permitted  to  engage  in  all  trades  and  in¬ 
dustries  except  the  manufacture  of  arms.80 
But  dark  days  were  again  coming.  In 
1679  the  Jewish  quarter  was  visited  by  a 
conflagration;  eight  years  later,  in  1687,  a 
second  conflagration  devastated  the  quar¬ 
ter,  and  laid  it  almost  completely  in  ruins. 
The  Jews  were,  therefore,  necessitated  to 
seek  shelter  in  Christian  homes.  The 
archbishop  forbade  the  priests  to  adminis¬ 
ter  the  rite  of  extreme  unction  to  Chris¬ 
tians  who  had  received  Jews  into  their 
homes.  When  he  refused  to  reconsider 
the  heartless  order,  the  people  appealed 
to  the  emperor,  who  had  shown  himself 
more  humane.  He  replied  that  he  knew 
it  to  be  forbidden  for  Jews  and  Christians 
to  live  together,  but  that  he  considered 
the  present  an  exceptional  case.  He 
warned  the  Jews,  however,  not  to  mock 
or  scoff  at  the  Christians.81 


99 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague. 

The  last  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from 
Prague  took  place  in  i  744.  On  the  23d  of 
December  of  the  preceding  year,  Empress 
Maria  Theresa  had  issued  a  decree  that  by 
the  end  of  1  744  all  Jews  must  leave  Bohe¬ 
mia.  Entreaties,  expostulations  availed 
naught.  With  the  exception  of  a  very 
few  favored  ones,  all  the  Jews  had  to  leave 
Prague.  The  usual  consequences  of  such 
a  measure  followed ;  trade  languished  and 
real  estate  declined  in  value,  for  the  sud¬ 
den  withdrawal  of  a  large,  active  and  in¬ 
dustrious  portion  of  the  population  always 
has  a  deleterious  effect.  The  petitions  for 
the  return  of  the  Jews  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities,  the  tradesmen  and  the  popu¬ 
lace  of  the  city  generally,  became  so  urgent 
and  persistent  that  in  1 748  the  empress 
found  herself  compelled  to  yield,  and 
granted  the  Jews  permission  to  return,  on 
condition  that  they  paid,  in  conjunction 
with  their  co-religionists  in  Moravia  and 
Silesia,  an  annual  Jew-taxof  300,000  florins 
in  addition  to  the  regular  taxes.  This  tax 
was  exacted  up  to  the  year  1848.82 

Towards  the  close  of  the  century,  the 


IOO 


Old  European  Jewries . 

new  spirit  began  to  affect  the  reigning 
house  of  Hapsburg,  too,  and  Emperor 
Joseph  II  commenced  to  improve  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  Jews.  The  emancipation  of 
the  Jews  went  steadily  forward,  sustaining 
reverses  at  times,  it  is  true,  but  the  freedom 
making  itself  felt  everywhere  could  not 
but  affect  the  condition  of  the  Jews,  and 
in  1848 — wondrous  year — the  Jewish  quar¬ 
ter  or  Ghetto  of  Prague  ceased  to  be  the 
compulsory  dwelling  place  of  the  Jews. 
They  were  permitted  to  live  in  all  quarters 
of  the  city ;  gradually  the  gates  and  walls 
were  removed  ;  poorer  classes  of  Christians 
moved  into  the  vacated  houses.  The 
quarter  with  many  of  its  old  landmarks, 
which  will  be  described  briefly,  still  stands, 
occupied,  in  great  part,  by  Jews,  but  there 
is  a  vast  difference  between  the  voluntary 
domicile  of  this  day  and  the  compulsory 
dwelling  place  of  the  dark  centuries  of  the 
past. 

A  few  of  the  salient  events  of  the  outer 
history  of  the  Jews  of  Prague  having 
been  given,  some  pages  may  now  be  de¬ 
voted  to  the  inner  life,  the  description 
of  the  Ghetto  and  its  prominent  features. 


IOI 


The  yudenstadt  of  Prague. 

The  Jewish  community  of  Prague  was, 
with  the  exception  of  that  of  Amsterdam, 
the  largest  in  Europe  during  mediaeval 
times.  The  Judenstadt  was  large,  and 
was  separated  from  the  city  by  nine  gates, 
which  were  locked  and  barred  every  night 
from  within.  The  Jews  had  their  own 
jurisdiction,  and  the  directory,  composed 
of  the  chief  men  of  the  community,  super¬ 
intended  the  police  regulations.  Civil  suits 
were  decided  by  the  college  of  rabbis.  In 
short,  the  Jewish  community  was  to  a  cer¬ 
tain  extent  self-ruling,  and  in  this  differed 
from  other  European  Jewish  communities. 
From  early  times  this  had  been  the  case.  In 
the  year  1268,  by  a  friendly  decree  of  Ot- 
tokar  II,  the  Jews  were  released  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  aldermen  of  the  city, 
and  provision  was  made  for  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  a  judex  Judceorum ,  a  judge  of 
the  Jews,  who  was  to  decide  in  civil  and 
criminal  cases.  The  synagogue  was  to  be 
the  court  of  justice,  and  was  declared 
inviolable.  Since  decisions  were  given 
among  the  Jews  according  to  the  rabbini¬ 
cal  code,  this  judge  always  had  to  be  a 


102  .  Old  European  Jewries, 

rabbi ;  he  presided  at  the  sessions  of  the 
court.  At  the  head  of  the  political  ad¬ 
ministration  stood  the  president  of  the 
congregation,  known  as  the  primator. 
As  just  stated,  the  synagogue  was  the 
seat  of  justice.  This  was  the  case  until 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
the  town  hall,  which  is  still  standing,  was 
built  by  Mordecai  Meisel,  and  used  there¬ 
after  for  all  judicial  functions,  and  the 
synagogue  was  employed  for  its  proper  pur¬ 
pose,  the  holding  of  religious  service.  The 
town  hall  is  joined  to  a  synagogue  known 
as  the  Hoch-Synagoge ,  which  served  as  a 
sort  of  private  chapel  for  the  councilors, 
and  for  the  fulfilment  of  religious  duties 
connected  with  the  dispensation  of  justice. 
The  town  hall  is  graced  with  a  tower,  on 
which  is  a  curious  dial  with  the  hours 
marked  in  Hebrew  and  Arabic  numerals. 
After  the  conflagration  of  1754,  the  town 
hall  was  rebuilt  (on  its  door  appears  the 
date  1755),  and  the  bell  of  the  tower  re¬ 
cast.  On  this  bell  may  be  read  in  Hebrew 
characters,  “renewed  in  the  year  5525,” 
i.e.  1764.  In  1627,  Ferdinand  II,  the  mon- 


The  y  11  dci  is  tacit  of  Prague.  103 

arch  who  was  so  kindly  disposed  toward 
the  Jews  of  the  city,  declared  the  Juden- 
stadt  an  independent  district,  with  its  own 
magistrates  and  jurisdiction.  Two  judi¬ 
cial  bodies  were  now  formed,  a  lower  and 
a  higher  court.  The  judges  of  the  lower 
court  held  daily  public  sessions.  They 
adjudicated  in  litigations  of  small  import. 
The  higher  court  composed  of  the  college 
of  rabbis,  the  chief  rabbi  at  the  head,  was 
the  court  of  appeal,  to  which  cases  could 
be  carried  from  the  lower  court,  suits  of 
great  importance  being  brought  before  it 
in  the  first  instance.  In  1784  this  sepa¬ 
rate  Jewish  rabbinical  jurisdiction  was 
abolished.  The  affairs  of  the  Jewish  com¬ 
munity  were  then  placed  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  the  town  magistrate.83  At  present, 
since  the  year  1849,  the  old  town  hall 
serves  as  an  office  building  for  the  direc- 
tors  of  the  religious  affairs  of  the  congre¬ 
gation. 

Directly  opposite  the  town  hall  stands 
an  old,  venerable  structure,  not  very  large, 
but  the  most  interesting  building  in  the 
whole  quarter.  The  ancient  house  is 


104  Old  European  Jewries. 

known  as  the  A It-neu  Synagoge ,  the 
“Old-new  synagogue,”  the  building  that 
has  stood  the  wear  and  tear  of  time,  that 
has  existed  through  the  long,  sad  history 
of  the  ages.  Many  harrowing  scenes  of 
man’s  inhumanity  to  man,  and  many  sub¬ 
lime  instances  of  supreme  faithfulness  and 
steadfastness  even  in  death  have  its  walls 
witnessed.  Old,  centuries  old,  is  the 
building,  and  many  have  been  the  theories 
as  to  the  time  of  its  construction.  The 
name,  “  Old-new  synagogue,”  seems  to 
indicate  that  at  one  time  the  old  synagogue 
was  renewed,  and  in  truth,  at  the  first 
glance  it  becomes  evident  that  the  build¬ 
ing  consists  of  two  entirely  distinct  por¬ 
tions,  the  older,  lower  story  being  in  the 
Byzantine  style  of  architecture,  the  up¬ 
per,  newer  in  the  Gothic.  The  tradition 
of  the  Ghetto  has  it  that  the  older  por¬ 
tion  dates  from  the  sixth,  the  newer 
from  the  thirteenth  century.  Late  in¬ 
vestigators  have  concluded  that  neither 
is  so  old  ;  that  the  older  part  was  con¬ 
structed  in  the  twelfth,  and  the  newer 
in  the  fourteenth  century.84 


The  Judc7istcidt  of  Prague.  105 

The  synagogue  is  entered  by  steps  lead¬ 
ing  down  to  the  floor  of  the  building, 
which  lies  lower  than  the  street.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  tradition,  it  was  so  built  in  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  the  word  of  the  Psalmist,  “  Out  of 
the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  Thee,  O 
Lord!”  Beautiful  and  poetical  as  is  this 
thought,  in  the  light  of  historical  research 
it  has  been  dissipated,  for  it  has  been  estab¬ 
lished  that  at  one  time  the  street  was  much 
lower  than  at  present,  and  that  the  building 
was  then  onalevel  with  the  street ;  that  later 
the  street  was  raised,  and  the  bidding,  now 
being  lower,  had  to  be  reached  by  descend¬ 
ing  steps.  The  interior  is  small  and 
gloomy ;  there  is  no  gallery,  and  the 
women  had  to  be  content  with  looking 
through  the  small  windows  situated  at  in¬ 
tervals  alonor  the  northern  wall.  A  con- 

o 

spicuous  object  in  the  synagogue  is  the 
great  red  flag  attached  to  one  of  the  pil¬ 
lars  opposite  the  entrance,  ornamented 
with  the  shield  of  David,  within  it  the 
Swede’s  hat,  and  bearing  the  inscription, 
“‘The  Lord  of  Hosts,  full  is  the  whole 
earth  of  His  glory’!  I11  the  year  5 1 1  7  A.  M., 


io6  Old  European  Jewries. 

(i.  e.  1357)  his  Majesty,  Emperor  Charles 
IV,  granted  the  Jews  the  distinction  and 
the  privilege  of  carrying  a  flag.  This  was  re¬ 
newed  in  the  reign  of  Emperor  Ferdinand. 
Damaged  by  the  wear  of  time,  it  is  now 
renewed  in  honor  of  our  lord,  Emperorv 
Charles  VI,  may  God  increase  his  glory! 
On  the  occasion  of  the  birth  of  his  exalted 
son,  Archduke  Leopold,  in  the  year  1716.” 
The  privilege  of  carrying  a  flag  in  their  pro¬ 
cessions  was  highly  prized  by  the  Jews. 
Whenever  an  emperor  came  to  Prague, 
and  the  Jews  formed  in  procession  to  meet 
him,  the  flag  was  brought  forth.  The 
Swede’s  hat,  embroidered  within  the  shield 
of  David  on  the  flag,  is  the  coat  of  arms 
granted  the  Jews  by  Ferdinand  II,  in  rec¬ 
ognition  of  their  bravery  and  their  services 
during  the  siege  of  the  city  by  the  Swedes. 
The  flag  is  now  merely  a  relic,  and  has 
lost  its  former  significance  and  importance, 
but  the  Jews  of  Prague  still  point  to  it 
with  pride,  as  the  symbol  embodying  the 
patriotism  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  the 
Ghetto  and  their  faithfulness  to  the  eov- 
eminent  and  the  land  of  their  residence. 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague.  107 

The  interior  of  the  synagogue  is  dark 
and  gloomy.  The  gloom  was  until  within 
the  past  few  years  much  greater  even  than 
it  is  now,  the  walls  being  black  with  the 
dust  and  mold  of  centuries.  There  was  a 
tradition  that  these  walls  had  been  bespat¬ 
tered  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  the 
great  persecution  of  1389,  and  for  fear  of 
obliterating  the  traces,  the  rabbis  continu¬ 
ally  protested  against  a  cleansing  of  the 
walls.  This  gave  the  old  building  a  som¬ 
bre  appearance,  and  increased  the  natural 
gloom  in  which  the  interior  was  shrouded, 
so  that  it  appeared  indeed  a  relic  of  a  sad, 
dark,  gloomy  past.  Lately  the  interior 
has  been  renovated,  and  what  it  may  have 
lost  as  a  relic  of  sad  antiquity,  it  has  gained 
in  cheer.  The  history  of  the  old  house 
of  worship  is  remarkable.  It  passed  un¬ 
scathed  through  fire  and  flood.  In  the 
great  conflagrations  which  visited  the 
Ghetto,  and  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made,  the  flames  devoured  the  buildings 
in  its  immediate  vicinity,  but  it  escaped  un¬ 
harmed,  for  great  efforts  were  always  made 
to  save  it.  During  the  devastating  inunda- 


io8  Old  European  Jewries . 

tions  of  the  river  Moldau,  to  which  the 
Ghetto,  lying  on  the  bank  of  the  stream, 
was  especially  exposed,  time  and  again 
buildings  were  swept  away,  but  the  old 
synagogue  successfully  withstood  the  at¬ 
tacks  of  water,  as  it  had  of  fire,  and  even 
during  the  persecutions,  when  cruelty  ran 
riot,  and  the  Ghetto  was  despoiled  by 
murderous,  plundering  mobs,  the  mad¬ 
dened  populace  seemed  to  regard  this  old 
structure  with  awe,  possibly  with  super¬ 
stitious  dread,  for  never  was  it  despoiled 
or  ruined.  Within  its  walls,  the  poor, 
hunted  creatures  gathered  in  the  days  of 
persecution.  At  one  time,  as  has  been 
stated,  some  met  their  death  there,  and 
their  life-blood  stained  the  walls.  Here, 
too,  they  assembled  in  troubled  days  to 
pray  for  help  and  strength.  No  wonder 
that  there  gathered  about  it  a  mass  of 
legends,  superstitions  and  traditions,  that 
it  became  the  object  of  the  people’s  loving 
care  and  solicitude,  that  it  embodied  for 
them  all  the  glory  of  their  faith,  and 
became  the  symbol  for  the  long,  sad  tale 
of  their  history.  Many  a  larger,  more  pre- 


109 


The  Jiuiens tacit  of  Prague, 

tentious  house  of  worship  has  arisen  in  the 
city,  but  none  is  and  none  can  ever  be  re¬ 
garded  with  the  affection  and  reverence 
that  cling  to  the  Alt-neu  Schul,  bound 
up  as  it  is  with  the  life  and  sufferings  of 
centuries,  entwined  with  memories  sad, 
rare,  and  glorious,  a  monument  of  the  past 
transported  into  the  newer,  better  present, 
a  link  between  what  has  gone  before  and 
what  is. 

A  few  minutes’  walk  down  the  street  to 
the  right  leads  to  the  great  cemetery,  the 
home  of  the  dead.  The  graves  are  three 
and  four  deep,  and,  therefore,  the  top  of 
the  mounds  is  much  higher  than  the  street 
without,  and  the  floor  of  the  synagogue 
next  to  the  graveyard  lies  many  feet  lower 
than  the  cemetery.  The  tombstones  are 
very  close  together ;  some  are  beginning 
to  crumble,  the  inscriptions  on  others  are 
still  very  legible  ;  the  epitaphs  have  all 
been  copied,  and  a  list  of  the  Jewish  fami¬ 
lies  of  Prague  made  in  accordance  with 
the  information  gleaned  from  these  silent 
witnesses.  The  cemetery,  known  as  the 
Judengarten,  “the  Jews’  garden,”  was  ac- 


I  IO 


Old  European  Jewries . 

quired  for  this  purpose  in  the  reign  of 
Ottokar  II,  in  1254.  The  oldest  tomb¬ 
stones  were  destroyed  in  the  terrible  per¬ 
secution  of  1389,  when  the  mob,  in  its 
fury,  did  not  spare  even  the  resting-places 
of  the  dead.  The  oldest  existing  epitaph 
dates  from  the  year  1439. 85  Above  the 
entrance  to  the  cemetery  one  reads  the 
inscription  in  Hebrew  and  German  : 

“  Reverence  for  antiquity  ; 

Respect  for  ownership ; 

Rest  for  the  dead.” 

This  inscription  dates  from  the  year 
1837,  and  finds  its  explanation  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  circumstance :  in  that  year  the 
Jews  of  the  city,  finding  their  quarters  too 
crowded,  petitioned  the  town  council  to 
give  them  permission  to  live  outside  the 
Ghetto.  The  council  concluded  to  grant 
the  Jews  permission  to  devote  the  ground 
of  the  old  cemetery,  not  employed  as  a 
burial-place  for  over  forty  years,  to  build¬ 
ing  purposes,  and  in  this  manner  enlarge 
the  Jewish  quarter.  In  consequence  of 
this,  Rabbi  Samuel  Landau  had  the  in¬ 
scription  placed  at  the  entrance.  Needless 


1 1 1 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague. 

to  say,  the  permission  of  the  council  was 
not  taken  advantage  of,  and  the  cemetery 
not  disturbed. 

As  one  wanders  among  the  graves,  most 
of  them  old,  centuries  old,  thought  cannot 
but  revert  to  the  past  and  the  checkered 
history  of  the  Jews.  Everything  is  quiet 
and  peaceful  now  in  this  home  of  the  dead, 
the  troubled  are  at  rest ;  but  as  we  read 
the  names  chiseled  in  the  tombstones, 
some  of  celebrities  who  shed  glory  upon 
the  Jewish  community  of  Prague,  most  of 
them  unknown  or  forgotten,  we  see  pass 
before  us  the  changing  views  of  the  pano¬ 
rama  of  bygone  days,  depicting  scenes  in 
which  those  resting  here,  the  great  and 
the  small,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned 
and  the  ignorant,  were  the  actors.  Most 
of  the  tombstones  are  plain  slabs,  but  some 
over  the  graves  of  noted  individuals  are 
pretentious  monuments.  On  many  of  the 
stones  we  note  engraved  figures,  symboli¬ 
cal  either  of  the  class  to  which  the  deceased 
belonged,  or  of  his  condition,  or  his  name. 
For  instance,  the  tombstones  of  the 
Aaronides,  i.  e.,  of  priestly  families,  are 


I  I  2 


Old  European  Jewries . 

adorned  with  two  spreading  hands,  the 
fingers  in  pairs,  adjusted  in  the  peculiar 
way  in  which  the  priests  held  their  hands 
over  the  people  while  reciting  the  benedic¬ 
tion.  The  stone  erected  over  the  grave 
of  a  descendant  of  the  Levites  is  marked 
with  a  pitcher  cut  into  the  stone,  while 
that  placed  over  the  resting  place  of  the 
Israelite  who  can  trace  his  ancestry  back 
to  neither  priest  nor  Levite,  is  distin¬ 
guished  by  a  sculptured  bunch  of  grapes. 
Besides  these  there  are  many  other  sym¬ 
bolical  figures  ;  for  example,  on  the  tomb¬ 
stone  of  a  young  girl  a  female  figure 
is  at  times  seen  ;  on  that  marking  the 
grave  of  a  young  wife,  a  female  figure 
carrying  a  rose.  The  name  that  the  de¬ 
ceased  bore,  if  taken  from  some  object 
in  the  animal  or  vegetable  kingdom,  so 
often  the  case  among  the  Jews,  e. 
Wolf,  Baer,  Rose,  Vogele  (bird),  Taube 
(pigeon),  Blume  (flower),  Lowe  (lion), 
Veilchen  (violet),  may  be  learned  from 
the  figures  of  these  objects  on  the  stones. 
The  inscriptions  are,  of  course,  in  Hebrew, 
and  are  a  valuable  source  for  the  history 


The  J miens  tacit  of  Prague.  1 13 

of  the  Jews.  They  have  all  been  copied, 
and  the  more  important  edited.86  In 
this  cemetery  of  Prague  rest  celebrated 
rabbis,  renowned  scholars,  great  physi¬ 
cians,  noted  philanthropists,  men  and 
women  who  in  life  did  their  duty  well,  and 
in  death  are  not  forgotten.  Here  one 
reads  the  epitaph  of  Mordecai  Meisel 
(1528 — 1601),  the  great  philanthropist,  who 
paved  the  whole  Jewish  quarter,  built  two 
synagogues,  the  so-called  Hoch-Synagoge , 
adjoining  the  Rathhaus,  and  the  Meisel 
Synagoge ,  erected  an  almshouse,  a  school, 
a  bath,  did  untold  private  charity,  and  as¬ 
sisted  Jewish  congregations  elsewhere. 
Here,  too,  is  the  grave  of  Rabbi  Judah  ben 
Bezalel,  known  as  the  Hohe  Rabbi  Low , 
about  whose  memory  innumerable  legends 
float.  The  people  looked  upon  him  as  a 
magician,  and  the  Josefstadt  of  to-day 
is  still  replete  with  traditions  of  his  won¬ 
derful  powers.  Notable  among  these 
stories  is  that  of  the  Homunculus  (known 
among  the  Jews  as  the  Golem ),  the  figure 
created  by  him  that  attended  to  all  his 

needs.  The  foundation  for  these  stories 
8 


1 1 4  Old  European  Jewries. 

appears  to  be  that  he  busied  himself  with 
scientific  experiments.  The  contents  of 
his  interview  with  Emperor  Rudolph,  in 
1592,  never  became  known,  hence  it  was 
made  the  basis  of  a  legend.  He  was  the 
most  celebrated  of  the  chief  rabbis  of 
Prague.  The  house  in  which  he  lived  is 
still  pointed  out,  and  is  marked  with  a  sign, 
a  lion  on  a  blue  background.  As  we  pass 
along,  we  note  the  grave  of  David  Gans 
(1541  — 1613),  the  historian,  whose  book, 
Zemach  David ,  “  The  Sprout  of  David,” 
is  a  chronicle  of  Jewish  events  from  the 
creation  to  the  year  1592  ;  also  that  of  the 
chief  rabbi,  David  Oppenheim  (1664 — 
1  736),  who  gathered  that  great  collection 
of  Hebrew  books  and  manuscripts  still  des¬ 
ignated  by  scholars  as  the  Bibliotheca  Op¬ 
penheim ,  the  pride  of  the  Bodleian  library 
at  Oxford,  where  it  is  now  preserved  in¬ 
tact ;  of  Joseph  del  Medigo,  of  Candia 
(1591  —  1 65 5),  one  of  the  most  renowned  of 
Jewish  scholars — physician,  mathema¬ 
tician,  philosopher  and  traveler,  pupil  of  the 
great  Galileo,  and  physician  in  ordinary  of 
Prince  RadziwilL  Not  far  away  rest  the 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague.  1 15 

remains  of  the  noble  man  spoken  of 
above,  Mordecai  Zemach  Kohen,  through 
whose  almost  superhuman  efforts  the  de¬ 
cree  of  expulsion  issued  by  Emperor  Fer¬ 
dinand  was  revoked.  Near  by  is  a  pre¬ 
tentious  monument,  erected  in  memory  of 
one  of  the  noblest  and  most  charitable  of 
women,  Hendel,  wife  of  Jacob  Bassewi  von 
Treuenberg,  ennobled  by  Emperor  Ferdi¬ 
nand  II,  in  1622  ;  and  so  might  many  others 
be  named,  who,  in  the  old  God’s  acre, 
sleep  the  last  earthly  sleep,  and  who,  in 
their  day,  rose  far  above  mediocrity.  Only 
a  few  of  the  most  renowned  have  been 
mentioned.  A  century  has  passed  since 
the  last  interment  took  place.  A  relic  of 
the  past,  the  old  cemetery  remains  quiet 
and  undisturbed  by  the  troubled  life  of 
the  present.  Its  epitaphs,  in  their  stony 
silence,  are  eloquent  witnesses  of  the  * 
doings  and  ambitions  of  men  and  ages 
gone,  and  as  we  step  beyond  its  portal,  we 
feel  that  we  are  leaving  the  centuries  of 
persecution  and  oppression,  and  are  going 
out  into  the  light  of  freedom.  Of  the  sig¬ 
nificance  and  importance  of  these  epi- 


i  1 6  Old  European  Jewries . 

taphs,  the  great  master  of  Jewish  research 
says  :87 

‘‘The  epitaphs  were  intended  to  keep 
alive  the  memory  of  the  dead  unto  pos¬ 
terity  beyond  the  time  in  which  the  pious 
affection  of  relatives  and  admirers  erected 
them,  and  the  possession  or  knowledge  of 
these  inscriptions,  though  they  reach  no 
further  back  than  the  eleventh  century, 
would  have  an  incalculable  value  in  in¬ 
creasing  our  meager  information  concern- 

o  o 

ing  Jewish  families,  as  well  as  for  literature 
and  history.  But  nothing  was  destroyed 
and  uprooted  with  colder  indifference  or 
with  more  bigoted  fanaticism  than  the 
Jewish  tombstones;  whatever  tombstones 
of  an  old  date  existed  in  numberless  places 
in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  were  either 
purposely  destroyed,  or  carelessly  per¬ 
mitted  to  disappear.  As  a  matter  of 
course,  the  purchased  sepulchers,  together 
with  the  epitaphs, were  the  property  of  indi¬ 
viduals,  and  the  cemeteries  acquired  from 
princes,  towns  and  bishops  for  large  sums 
of  money  were  the  possessions  of  the  con¬ 
gregations  ;  in  spite  of  this  the  graves  were 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague,  1 1  7 

desecrated  and  plundered  in  the  thirteenth 
century  in  Spain,  Italy,  France,  Germany. 
‘  The  sacred  stones  were  thrown  upon  the 
streets  as  an  insult,  the  remains  of  those 
who  had  worshipped  God  were  removed 
from  their  graves,  and  before  the  eyes  of 
the  living  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were 
trampled  upon  and  plundered  ’  ( old  prayer)  ; 
or  after  the  expulsion  and  killing  of  the 
Jews,  the  graveyards  were  seized,  the 
tombstones  broken  to  pieces,  and  used  for 
other  purposes.  Throughout  Germany, 
between  the  fourteenth  and  the  sixteenth 
century,  walls,  foundations,  churches  and 
houses  were  constructed  with  Jewish  tomb¬ 
stones  thus  acquired.” 

So  stands  still  the  old  Jewish  quarter  of 
Prague  ;  its  walls  have  fallen,  the  Jews  have 
scattered  into  all  quarters  of  the  city  be¬ 
yond  its  precincts,  but  still  we  thread  the 
narrow,  crooked  streets,  and  there  crowd 
in  upon  us  thoughts,  sad  and  painful,  when 
we  recall  the  awful  scenes  here  enacted, 
and  at  the  same  time  we  are  thrilled  with 
admiration  for  the  constancy,  heroism  and 
bravery  of  the  thousands  of  Jews  in  the 


1 1 8  Old  European  J entries, 

dark  years  and  centuries,  in  which  they 
withstood  all  the  horrors  to  which  they 
were  continually  subjected.  But  through 
the  darkness  that  overhangs  the  past 
gleams  a  bright  light.  In  the  narrow 
lanes  and  byways,  here  and  elsewhere, 
grew  up  that  beautiful  Jewish  home  life 
that  has  been  one  of  the  means  of  salva¬ 
tion  for  the  Jews.  The  story  of  this  life  is 
not  recorded,  but  it  is  more  important 
than  the  outer  events  and  misfortunes  that 
historians  have  made  note  of.  By  it  the 
character  of  the  people  was  formed,  and 
as  we  look  upon  the  unsightly  houses  in 
the  Jewish  quarter,  the  wretched  exterior 
seems  to  float  away,  and  the  home  scenes 
of  joy  and  love  and  religious  constancy 
shine  brilliantly  forth — perpetual  lamps — 
and  explain  how,  in  spite  of  woe  and 
misery,  such  as  have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  no 
other  people  so  long  and  so  continuously, 
the  Jews  have  found  strength  to  live  and 
hope  on.  Religion  and  home,  faith  and 
love,  conviction  and  affection,  these  are 
undying  possessions  that  the  Jews  clung 
to  and  preserved.  The  evils  of  the 


The  Judenstadt  of  Prague,  119 

Ghetto,  a  hideous  nightmare,  have  passed  ; 
the  things  that  imbued  the  long-suffering 
with  strength,  live  forever.  The  mists 
dissolve,  the  sun-light  spreads,  wrong  dis¬ 
appears,  the  just  conquers,  God  reigns, 
and  right  must  triumph. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  GHETTO  OF  ROME. 

The  Jewish  community  of  Rome  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  the  oldest  in  Europe.  The  J ews 
have  lived  there  uninterruptedly  since  Pom- 
pey’s  time,  probably  even  from  an  earlier 
day,88  with  the  possible  exception  of  a 
short  period  during  the  reign  of  Claudius, 
who  is  said  to  have  expelled  them  from 
the  city.89  We  have  no  notice  that  they 
were  compelled  to  leave  the  city  at  any 
other  time.  Even  during  the  terrible  days 
of  the  crusades,  the  Jews  of  Rome  were 
little  affected  by  the  cruelty  of  the  mobs, 
who  inflicted  untold  sufferings  on  their 
co-religionists  in  Germany,  France,  Aus¬ 
tria  and  Bohemia.  Their  condition  in  im¬ 
perial  and  papal  Rome  was  usually  bear¬ 
able,  for,  in  many  instances,  the  popes  were 

(  120  ) 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  1 2 1 

kind,  although  there  were  occupants  of  the 
see  of  St.  Peter  who  did  all  in  their 
power  to  harass,  humiliate  and  oppress 
them.  Their  residence  of  two  thousand 
years  in  Rome,  the  center  of  Chris¬ 
tianity,  under  conditions  most  unfavor¬ 
able  and  depressing,  is  nothing  short  of 
a  miracle.  It  is  the  same  miracle  that 
the  preservation  of  Israel  everywhere  pre¬ 
sents  ;  it  belongs  to  the  scheme  of  Divine 
Providence.  The  people  has  a  mission, 
and  until  that  mission  is  fulfilled,  it  will 
continue  to  exist,  whatever  the  external 
conditions  and  evils  it  must  endure. 

In  the  old  imperial  days,  the  Jews  were 
confined  to  no  special  quarter  ;  they  could 
dwell  anywhere  in  the  city,  although  the 
majority  lived  in  Transtiberis90  (Trans- 
tevere),  where  their  synagogue  was  situ¬ 
ated.  This  portion  of  the  city  some  of 
them  continued  to  inhabit  until  the  insti¬ 
tution  of  the  official  Ghetto  in  1556.  But 
long  before  this  time  Jews  lived  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tiber.91  The  bridge 
Ouattro  Capi  was  known  as  the  Pons 
Judczorum,  “bridge  of  the  Jews.”  A 


122 


Old  European  Jewries . 

charter  given  in  1019  by  Pope  Bene¬ 
dict  VIII  to  the  bishopric  of  Portus,  whose 
jurisdiction  extended  over  the  island  of 
the  Tiber  and  Transtevere,  mentions,  as 
belonging  to  this  territory,  fundum  integ¬ 
rum,  qui  vocatur  Judceorum ,  “the  whole 
district,  named  after  the  Jews,”  and  desig¬ 
nates,  as  its  boundary,  medium pontem  ubi 
T udezi  habit  are  videntur ,  “  the  middle  of 
the  bridge,  where  the  Jews  appear  to 
dwell.”92 

Their  papal  masters  were  content  to 
permit  the  Jews  to  live  as  they  had  been 

accustomed  for  centuries.  With  papal  leg¬ 
islation  in  regard  to  the  Jews  we  are  not 
concerned  here,  except  in  so  far  as  it  touched 
their  dwelling  place.  With  this  none  of 
the  popes,  the  spiritual  and  temporal  mas¬ 
ters  of  Rome,  interfered  until  the  time  of 
the  cruel  Paul  IV  Caraffa,  one  of  the 
most  sinister  pontiffs  that  ever  occupied 
the  see  of  St.  Peter.  He  was  the  one  to 
institute  torture  chambers  and  the  censor- 
ship  in  Rome.  He  was  hated  alike  by 
Christians  and  Jews.  So  bitter  was  the 
animosity  against  him,  that  upon  his  death 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  123 

the  Roman  people  execrated  and  cursed 
his  memory.  They  applauded  a  Jew  who 
placed  a  yellow  hat  upon  his  statue,  and 
thereupon  the  people  dragged  the  statue 
through  the  streets  of  Rome  to  the  Capitol, 
destroyed  it,  and  threw  the  head  with  the 
hat  into  the  Tiber.  This  man,  whom  the 
Jews  designated  by  the  name  of  Israel’s 
traditional  arch-enemy,  Haman,  has  the 
sorry  renown93  of  having  established  the 
Roman  Ghetto,  into  which,  for  three  hun 
dred  years,  thousands  of  human  creatures 
were  crowded,  a  disgrace  to  humanity 
and  civilization.  Scarce  had  he  ascended 
the  papal  throne  when,  on  July  12,  1555, 
he  promulgated  the  famous  bull,  Cum 
minis  cibsurdum,  in  reference  to  the 
Jews.  It  repeats  all  the  restrictions 
to  which  the  Jews  were  accustomed, 
but  the  only  portion  that  interests  us 
here  is  the  command  that  “  in  Rome 
and  all  other  cities  of  the  Papal  States  the 
Jews  shall  live  entirely  separated  from  the 
Christians,  in  a  quarter  or  a  street  with 
one  entrance  and  one  exit ;  they  shall 
have  but  one  syna^o^ue,  shall  build  no 

✓  <3  0 


124  Old  European  Jewries . 

new  synagogue,  nor  own  real  estate.”  In 
spite  of  petition  and  protest,  the  Jews  of 
Rome  were  forced  into  their  prison.  Paul 
IV  designated  as  the  Ghetto  a  small 
territory  consisting  of  a  few  narrow,  un¬ 
healthy  streets  along  the  left  bank  of 
the  Tiber,  and  extending  from  the  bridge 
Ouattro  Capi  to  the  Via  del  Pianto, 
“  the  street  of  lamentation.  ”  T ruly,  an  ap¬ 
propriate  entrance  for  the  new  quarter,  as  it 
was  a  place  of  lamentation  for  the  J  ews,  and 
with  weeping  and  wailing  they  entered  it 
on  July  26,  1556.  The  Jews  resisted  at 
the  start;  one  of  them,  David  d’Ascoli, 
published  a  pamphlet  setting  forth  the 
reasons  why  his  co-religionists  should  not 
be  treated  thus  ;  for  his  pains  he  was  con¬ 
demned  to  imprisonment  for  life. 

At  first  the  district  was  named  vicus 
Judczorum,  later  Ghetto.  It  was  shut  in 
by  gates.  Paul  IV  has  been  called  the 
“  heartless  Pharaoh,  who  exposed  the  Jews 
to  all  the  ills  bound  to  arise  from  the 
cramped  space  and  the  low  situation  of 
the  dwellings  along  the  river,  and  these 
ills  were  a  host  of  Egyptian  plagues.”  For 


125 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 

example,  in  1656,  the  Ghetto  became  such 
a  hotbed  of  infection  that  the  gates  were 
closed  for  three  months,  and  the  unhappy  - 
inhabitants  were  not  permitted  to  leave 
the  quarter  during  all  that  time.  A 
traveler  of  forty  years  ago  speaks  as  fol¬ 
lows  of  the  Ghetto:  “When  I  visited  it 
(the  Ghetto)  the  first  time,  the  Tiber  had 
just  overflowed  its  banks,  and  the  yellow 
flood  flowed  through  the  Fiumara,  the 
lowest  street  of  the  Ghetto,  the  founda¬ 
tions  of  the  houses  of  which  stand  partly 
in  the  water ;  the  river  also  coursed  along 
the  Octavia  (another  street),  and  covered 
the  lower  portions  of  the  lowest  houses. 
What  a  melancholy  sight  to  see  the  wretch¬ 
ed  Jewish  quarter  thus  sunk  in  the  waves 
of  the  Tiber  !  Yearly  must  Israel  in  Rome 
experience  the  deluge,  and  the  Ghetto 
survives  the  flood,  like  Noah’s  ark,  with 
human  creatures  and  animals.  The  dan¬ 
ger  increases,  when  the  Tiber,  swelled  by 
rains,  is  driven  back  from  the  sea  by  west 
winds;  then  all  who  live  in  the  lower 
stories  of  the  houses  must  seek  refuge  in 
the  upper  apartments.”94 


126  Old  European  J ewrics. 

An  Italian  writer,  in  discoursing  upon 
the  emancipation  of  the  Jews  in  1848,  de¬ 
scribes  this  Ghetto  as  a  “formless  heap  of 
hovels  and  dirty  cottages,  ill  kept,  in 
which  a  population  of  nearly  four  thou¬ 
sand  souls  vegetates,  when  half  that  num¬ 
ber  could  with  difficulty  live  there.  The 
narrow,  unclean  streets,  the  scarcity  of 
fresh  air,  and  the  filth,  inevitable  conse¬ 
quences  of  such  a  conglomeration  of  human 
beings,  wretched  for  the  most  part,  render 
this  hideous  dwelling  place  nauseous  and 
deadly.”95 

This  squalid  quarter  the  Jews  had  to 
occupy,  and  the  inhumanity  of  Paul  IV 
placed  the  capstone  upon  the  column  of 
indignity,  erected  in  the  course  of  the 
Christian  centuries,  block  upon  block,  each 
designating  some  new  disgrace  heaped 
upon  the  Jews.  Unrelenting  was  Paul 
IV  in  his  inimical  attitude  towards  the  de¬ 
voted  people,  and  the  day  of  his  death 
was  hailed  with  joy  throughout  the  Jewry 
of  the  Papal  States,  the  Jews  hoping  that, 
as  each  new  pope  was  an  independent 
sovereign,  and  made  new  rules  for  the 


127 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 


government  of  his  state,  his  successor 
might  revoke  his  decrees.  That  was  the 
only  comfort  that  the  Jews  had  whenever 
a  specially  unfriendly  pope  occupied  St. 
Peters :  possibly  his  successor  would  be 
kind  to  them.  And  in  this  hope  they  were 
justified  this  time.  Pius  IV  (1559 — 1565), 
the  successor  of  Caraffa,  entertained  kind¬ 
lier  sentiments  toward  the  J  ews.  H  e  light¬ 
ened  their  burden  considerably,  and  his 
treatment  was  a  great  relief  from  the 


unremitting  and  unrelaxing  cruelty  of  his 
predecessor.  In  1561,  at  the  urgent  re¬ 
quest  of  the  Jews,  he  issued  a  brief  to  the 
Jews  of  the  Papal  States,  of  the  following 
import :  His  predecessor  had  promulgated 
a  bull  regulating  the  life  of  the  Jews,  which 
some,  out  of  desire  for  their  riches,  had 
made  use  of  to  harass  them.  He,  therefore, 
decreed  that  the  Jews,  on  their  journeys, 
might  put  aside  the  yellow  head-covering, 
and  that  they  be  obliged  to  wear  it  only 
in  the  places  in  which  they  staid  longer 
than  one  day  ;  that,  if  the  quarter  assigned 
to  them  in  the  cities  was  insufficient  for 
them  and  their  business,  it  could  be  en- 


128  Old  European  Jewries. 

larged  by  the  governor  or  vice-legate,  or 
a  larger  and  more  fitting  quarter  could  be 
assigned  to  them  ;  that  they  could  acquire, 
besides  their  houses  in  these  quarters, 
other  property  to  the  value  of  1500  gold 
ducats  ;  that  they  could  rent  this  property 
to  Christians,  could  do  business  with  Chris¬ 
tians,  could  exercise  all  trades,  deal  in  all 
manner  of  goods,  and  have  intercourse 
with  Christians,  but  not  employ  Christian 
servants  ;  that,  in  the  quarters  assigned  to 
them  (viz.,  the  Ghetto,  established  by  Paul 
IV),  the  (Christian)  owners  of  the  houses 
could  not  ask  exorbitant  rents,  but  had  to 
rent  the  houses  at  a  price  determined  by 
the  executive  of  the  city.  There  were 
many  other  regulations  in  this  favorable 
decree,  but  the  last  mentioned  was  of  es¬ 
pecial  importance.  At  the  accession  of 
Pius  V  (1566 — 1572),  the  next  pope,  the  sky 
was  again  overclouded  for  the  Jewish  resi¬ 
dents  of  Rome.  The  mildness  of  Pius  IV 
had  given  them  some  respite,  and  encour¬ 
aged  them  to  hope  for  better  things,  but  in 
the  days  of  Pius  V  the  spirit  of  Paul  IV  was 
revived.  He  revoked  the  concessions  of 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  129 

his  immediate  predecessor, and  renewed  the 
harsh  bull  of  Paul  IV,  Cum  nimis  absur- 
dum.  The  Jews,  when  ordered  to  the 
Ghetto,  had  been  commanded  to  sell  all 
their  real  estate  outside.  They  had  evaded 
this,  and  in  the  time  of  Pius  IV,  as  noted 
above,  they  had  again  been  permitted  to  ac¬ 
quire  landed  property.  Pius  V,  however, 
ordered,  in  reference  to  this  matter,  that 
all  property  owned  by  the  Jews  not  sold 
within  a  specified  time,  or  sold  only  on 
pretense,  was  to  become  the  possession  of 
the  church.  In  1569,  he  ordered  the 
Jews  of  all  cities  and  towns  of  the  Papal 
States,  with  the  exception  of  Rome  and 
Ancona,  to  leave  within  three  months 
under  pain  of  slavery  and  confiscation  of 
their  possessions.  The  Jews  of  these  two 
cities  were  commanded  not  to  harbor  the 
exiles,  and  were  forbidden  to  leave  their 
own  city  to  go  to  another  place.  He 
also  laid  down  specific  regulations  for  the 
Jews  of  the  Roman  Ghetto.  Every  Jew 
had  to  be  in  the  Ghetto  by  nightfall.  After 
the  Ave  Maria ,  the  gates  of  the  Ghetto 
were  to  be  closed.  Any  Jew  who  was 
9 


1 30  Old  European  Jewries. 

caught  outside  after  nightfall,  was  pun¬ 
ished  severely,  unless  he  succeeded  in 
bribing  the  watchman.  Gregory  XIII 
(1572 — 1585),  the  next  pope,  legislated  in 
much  the  same  spirit,  but  it  is  said  that  he 
permitted  the  Jews  whom  Pius  V  had  ex¬ 
pelled  from  the  Papal  States  to  return96. 

Sixtus  V  (1 585 — 1 590), possibly  the  most 
humane  and  liberal  minded  of  all  the  oc¬ 
cupants  of  the  papal  see,  followed  him. 
Pie  was  very  kindly  disposed  toward  the 
Jews,  and  in  his  day  matters  looked 
brighter  for  them  than  they  had  dared 
hope.  In  1586  he  issued  his  bull,  Chris¬ 
tiana  pietas,  in  which  he  gave  the  Jews 
permission  to  settle  in  all  cities  of  his  do¬ 
main,  and  suitable  dwellings  at  the  custom¬ 
ary  rents  were  to  be  assigned  to  them. 
These  rents  were  not  to  be  raised  later. 
In  places  where  they  had  had  synagogues 
formerly,  they  were  permitted  to  re-open 
them,  In  short,  in  this  bull,  he  renewed 
all  the  privileges  of  the  Jews.  In  his 
time,  attracted  by  the  leniency  of  his  rule, 
many  Jews  came  to  Rome  to  live. 

Clement  VIII  (1592 — 1605)  issued  his 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  131 

bull,  Ceeca  et  perfidia  Hebrceorum  obdu- 
rata ,  on  February  25,  1593.  He  revoked 
the  mild  decrees  of  Pius  IV  and  Sixtus  V, 
and  put  into  force  again  the  harsh  regu¬ 
lations  of  Paul  IV  and  Pius  V.  He  aofain 
expelled  all  the  Jews  who  had  returned  to 
the  cities  of  the  Papal  States  during  the 
pontificate  of  Sixtus  V.  Within  three 
months  of  the  date  of  the  publication  of 
the  bull,  all  the  Jews  except  those  of 
Rome,  Ancona  and  Avignon,  permitted  to 
remain  because  of  the  larore  commercial 

o 

interests  in  their  hands,  again  had  to 
leave  their  homes.  The  Jews  in  Bologna 
at  that  time  numbered  nine  hundred  souls. 
On  their  departure  from  the  city,  with  that 
filial  reverence  characteristic  of  the  Jews, 
they  took  the  bones  of  their  dead  with 
them,  and  re-interred  them  in  the  ceme¬ 
tery  at  Piere  di  Cento,  where  there  was  a 
small  Jewish  congregation. 

When  Paul  IV  assigned  the  quarter  be¬ 
tween  the  Via  del  Pianto  and  the  Ponte 
del  Ouattro  Capi  to  the  Jews  as  their 
Ghetto,  Christian  families  were  living  in 
that  region.  They  had  to  move  out  of  their 


132  Old  European  Jewries. 

homes,  of  which,  of  course,  they  retained 
the  ownership  ;  many  of  the  other  houses 
were  also  owned  by  Christians.  These 
houses  the  Jews  had  to  rent.  They  had 
no  alternative.  They  had  to  live  there. 
The  landlords,  knowing  this,  could  ask  al¬ 
most  any  sum,  and  they  were  not  slow  in 
taking  advantage  of  the  situation.  The 
jews,  having  been  forced  into  this  dwell¬ 
ing  place,  had  to  be  protected  in  some  man¬ 
ner  from  extortionate  rents  and  from  the 
whim  of  the  landlord,  who  might  put  them 
out  at  any  moment.  So  it  was  found  nec¬ 
essary  in  the  time  of  Clement  VIII  to 
issue  the  law  regulating  the  holding  of 
property  in  the  Ghetto  and  the  relation  of 
tenant  to  landlord,  a  law  that  remained  in 
force  until  the  abolition  of  the  Ghetto. 
This  law  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Roman 
owners  should  remain  in  possession  of  the 
houses,  but  the  Jewish  tenants  were  to  be 
given  a  leasehold ;  they  could  not  be 
given  notice  to  move  so  long  as  they  paid 
their  rent.  The  rent,  fixed  by  the  authori¬ 
ties,  could  not  be  raised.  The  Jew  could 
change  and  enlarge  the  house  if  he  de- 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  133 

sired.  This  right  was  given  a  special 
name,  the  jus  gazzaga  (from  the  Hebrew 
chazakah,  meaning  right  of  possession), 
and  everyone  who  held  such  a  lease  valued 
it  highly,  since  it  assured  him  and  his 
family  of  a  roof  over  their  heads,  and  pro¬ 
tected  him  from  the  wanton  treatment  of 
grasping  landlords.  This  jus  gazzaga  was 
handed  down  in  families  from  generation 
to  generation,  and  they  who  possessed  it 
were  regarded  as  remarkably  fortunate, — 
fortunate  to  be  assured  of  the  right  of 
dwelling  in  a  close,  confined,  miserable 
corner  of  the  city!  But  the  Jew  had  to 
be  thankful  not  only  for  a  dwelling  place, 
but  for  the  mere  right  to  live. 

In  reference  to  this  jus  gazzaga ,  or 
possession  of  leaseholds  of  the  houses  in 
the  Ghetto,  Alexander  VII  (1655 — 1667) 
issued  a  decree  favorable  to  converted 
Jews.  The  popes  made  continual  efforts 
to  convert  the  Jews  by  every  method  in 
their  power,  as  will  be  noticed  later  on. 
At  times  they  succeeded,  and  naturally 
these  converted  Jews  were  not  regarded 
with  the  most  affectionate  feelings  by  their 


1 34  Old  European  Jewries. 

former  brethren  in  faith.  Now,  it  happened 
at  times  that  a  converted  Jew  was  in  posses¬ 
sion  of  a  jus  gazzaga.  He,  of  course, 
could  move  out  of  the  Ghetto,  and  live 
wherever  he  desired  ;  that  was  one  of  the 
inducements  held  out  for  conversion. 
Thereby  his  house  in  the  Ghetto,  of  which 
he  held  the  perpetual  lease,  became  va¬ 
cant,  and  he  was  anxious  to  rent  it,  since 
he  had  to  pay  rent  to  the  Roman  owner. 
The  J  ews,  however,  banded  themselves 
together,  an<3  agreed  not  to  rent  such 
houses,  in  order  to  injure  the  faithless  and 
keep  others  from  accepting  Christianity. 
Alexander,  therefore,  issued  a  brief  in 
1657,  to  the  effect  that  the  Jews  of  the 
Ghetto,  as  a  community,  had  to  make 
good  the  rent  of  such  houses  as  long  as 
they  stood  empty.  In  1658  he  issued  a 
further  decree  in  regard  to  the  jus  gaz¬ 
zaga.  Since  the  Jews,  without  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  owners  of  the  houses,  often 
sold  this  jits  on  burdensome  conditions  ; 
since  they  made  contracts  and  gave  mort¬ 
gages  on  it,  so  that  it  became  difficult  for 
the  owners  to  collect  their  rents  ;  since 


T35 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 

they  took  undertenants  into  the  houses,  by 
whom  the  property  was  ruined,  the  own¬ 
ers  incurring-  the  cost  of  repair ;  since 
they  often  left  houses  arbitrarily,  and 
mutually  agreed  that  no  Jew  should  rent 
certain  ones,  the  pope  issued  the  same  law 
as  in  regard  to  the  houses  whose  lease- 
holds  were  in  the  possession  of  converted 
Jews,  viz.,  the  community  of  the  Ghetto 
had  to  pay  the  rent  of  such  houses  to  the 
landlords.  Houses  in  the  Ghetto  were 
valuable  ;  even  when  empty  they  filled  the 
coffers  of  their  owners. 

The  story  of  the  relations  between  the 
popes  and  the  Jews  does  not  belong  here, 
except  in  so  far  as  it  especially  affected  the 
community  of  Rome.  The  spiritual  juris¬ 
diction  of  the  popes  extended  over  the 
whole  Catholic  world,  and  their  repeated 
decrees  against  Jewish  books,  the  Talmud 
in  particular;  their  dealings  with  the  In¬ 
quisition  in  its  efforts  to  root  out  the  se¬ 
cret  Jews  in  Spain,  Portugal  and  Italy  • 
their  edicts  in  regard  to  the  attire  of  the 
Jews;  the  association  of  Jews  with  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  the  employment  of  Christian  ser- 


136  Old  European  Jewries. 

vants  and  nurses  by  Jews,  and  many  other 
laws  of  the  same  import  affected  the 
Roman  Ghetto  only  as  a  part  of  the  com¬ 
munity  of  European  Jews.  But  there 
were  points  in  which  the  Jews  of  Rome 
stood  in  special  relations  to  the  pope. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  popes  were, 
for  the  most  part,  kind  masters,  and  that 
the  lot  of  the  Jews  in  the  papal  capital 
was  better  than  elsewhere.97  The  Jews 
of  Rome  escaped  the  terrible  persecu¬ 
tions,  the  bloody  massacres,  the  fright¬ 
ful  accusations,  the  heartless  expulsions 
that  mark  the  history  of  their  brethren 
in  France,  England,  Germany,  Spain, 
Portugal  and  Austria.  They  were  sub¬ 
jected  to  indignities,  but  to  nothing  more 
serious.  They  were  often  molested,  and 
pettily  persecuted  ;  they  were  made  the 
objects  of  scorn  and  mockery,  not  of 
murder  and  pillage.  Rome'  was  fre¬ 
quently  a  place  of  refuge,  and  often  re¬ 
ceived  them  when  they  were  driven  out 
of  other  Italian  states  and  other  countries. 
The  clemency  of  many  of  the  popes  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  the  tern- 


1 37 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 

poral  rulers  of  the  city,  and  whenever 
their  material  interests  clashed  with  the 
spiritual  legislation  in  regard  to  the  Jews, 
the  former  being  the  nearer  concern  ob¬ 
tained  prime  consideration.98  The  Jews 
were  useful  citizens  in  times  of  need,  and 
often  aided  the  popes  with  money  in  their 
struggles  with  rival  powers.  As  every¬ 
where,  the  Jew’s  money  was  his  weapon. 
Up  to  the  pontificate  of  Paul  IV,  their  con¬ 
dition  in  Rome  was  bearable.  Such  popes 
as  Gregory  the  Great,  Alexander  III,  Ho- 
norius  III,  Gregory  IX,  Nicholas  IV,  were 
really  kind  and  benevolently  disposed  to¬ 
wards  them.  But  from  the  day  of  Paul 
IV,  with  the  exceptions  already  noted,  the 
bull  Cum  nimis  absurdum  became  the 
charter  of  the  Jews  of  Rome,  “the  pivot 
upon  which  their  life  and  history  revolved.” 

Even  before  the  official  institution  of 
the  Ghetto  by  Paul  IV,  it  was  customary 
for  the  Jewish  community  of  Rome  to 
assist  in  welcoming  the  new  pope  on  his 
entrance  into  the  citv.  This  entrance 
resembled  a  triumphal  march,  and  was  a 
magnificent  spectacle.  The  Jews  did 


138  Old  European  Jewries^ 

homage  to  the  new  pope,  and  usually 
from  his  reception  of  them  they  learned 
whether  the  coming  years  would  bring 
weal  or  woe.  The  first  mention  of  the 
participation  of  the  Jews  in  welcoming  the 
pope  is  in  the  time  of  Calixtus  II,  at 
whose  entrance  in  1120  the  plaudits  of 

the  Jews  mingled  with  those  of  the  Ro- 

« 

mans.  They  usually  met  the  pope  with 
the  scroll  of  the  Law.  When  Innocent 
II,  in  1138,  entered  Rome,  the  Jews  ap¬ 
proached  him  on  his  way  to  the  Lateran 
palace,  bent  the  knee  before  him,  and 
handed  their  scroll  to  him  in  sign  of  hom¬ 
age.  He  answered,  “We  praise  and 
honor  the  Law,  for  it  was  given  your 
fathers  by  Almighty  God  through  Moses. 
But  we  condemn  your  cult  and  your  false 
interpretation  of  the  Law,  for  you  await 
the  Redeemer  in  vain  ;  the  apostolic  faith 
teaches  us  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has 
already  appeared.”  When  Eugenius  III 
entered  upon  the  pontifical  office  in  1145, 
Jews  were  present  at  the  great  celebra¬ 
tion,  carrying  the  Mosaic  Law  on  their 
shoulders.  Alexander  III,  in  1165,  was 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome, 


139 


received  by  a  vast  multitude,  among  them 
the  Jews,  carrying  their  Law  in  their  arms 
according  to  custom.  A  ^reat  multitude 
of  priests,  laymen  and  Jews  in  1187  ac“ 
corded  Clement  Ilia  hearty  welcome  amid 
songs  and  praises."  The  method  of  the 
reception  of  the  Jews  was  definitely  fixed. 
In  the  description  of  the  pope’s  welcome, 
we  read  in  the  Ordo  Romanics:  ‘‘And 
the  Jews  come  with  their  Law,  make 
obeisance,  and  offer  him  the  Law  for  him 
to  honor  it,  and  then  the  pope  commends 
the  Law,  and  condemns  the  cult  and 
interpretation  of  the  Jews,  because  they 
say  that  the  Redeemer  will  come,  while 
the  Church  teaches  and  preaches  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  already  come.” 
The  Jews  on  these  occasions  usually  stood 
arrayed  on  the  Monte  Guardano,  or  at  the 
Arch  of  Titus,  which  lay  on  the  road  of 
the  pope  to  the  V atican.  The  Arch  of 
Titus,  one  of  the  most  valued  remains  of 
antiquity,  was  erected  after  the  conquest 
of  Jerusalem  by  Titus.  On  its  frieze  is 
the  figure  of  an  old  man  on  a  bier,  repre¬ 
senting  the  river  Jordan;  on  the  arch 


140  Old  European  Jewries. 

itself  are  pictured  the  seven-branched 
golden  candlestick,  the  golden  table,  the 
ark  and  the  silver  trumpets,  all  connected 
with  the  worship  of  the  Temple.  To  the 
Jews  this  arch  embodied  the  loss  of  their 
land.  It  seemed  to  them  to  bespeak  their 
shame  and  humiliation,  and  no  Jew  of 
Rome  ever  passed  through  it ;  he  always 
made  a  detour,  and  passed  around  the 
side.100 

The  Jews,  standing  in  these  public 
places,  became  the  objects  of  scorn  for  the 
Roman  populace;  the  gamins  jeered  and 
mocked  them,  the  populace  subjected 
them  to  insult  and  contumely.  As  a  re¬ 
sult  of  their  request  to  be  saved  from  this 
treatment,  Innocent  VIII  permitted  them 
in  1484  to  appear  in  the  inner  space  of  the 
Castello  St.  Angelo.  In  1513  Leo  X  re¬ 
ceived  them  at  the  gate  of  this  castle. 
They  reached  him  the  Law  for  his  confir¬ 
mation.  The  pope  took  it,  and  said  : 
Confirmamus  sed  non  consentimus ,  “  We 
confirm,  but  do  not  assent.”  This  was  the 
last  time  that  this  ceremony  took  place. 

One  of  the  greatest  indignities  to  which 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome,  14 1 

the  J ews  of  Rome  were  subjected  was  their 
compulsory  participation  in  the  races  on 
the  Corso  at  the  carnival.  The  populace 
demanded  as  a  great  source  of  pleasure 
that  Jews  run  in  the  races.  Paul  II,  in 
1468,  instituted  these  races,  and  amid  the 
gibes  and  jeers  of  the  attendant  crowds, 
a  number  of  Jews  were  forced  annually  to 
participate  ;  their  companions  in  the  races 
were  asses,  buffaloes  and  Barbary  horses. 
What  rare  sport  it  was  for  the  Roman 
populace  to  see  the  victims  of  their  scorn 
and  contempt  come  forth,  with  no  cover¬ 
ing  but  a  cloth  about  their  loins,  and  run 
the  length  of  the  Corso  on  an  equal  foot¬ 
ing  with  animals !  The  weak  degraded 
by  the  strong  !  So  was  it  always  in  Rome  : 
none  too  low,  none  too  degraded  to 
consider  himself  above  the  wretched  in¬ 
habitants  of  the  Ghetto,  whose  very  right 
of  residence  depended  on  their  doing  the 
will  of  their  superiors.  How  the  crowds 
laughed  and  shouted  with  delight  at  the 
sight  of  the  Jews  racing!  How  the 
Christians  pointed  the  finger  of  scorn, 
and  noble  and  gamin ,  cardinal  and  beggar, 


142  Old  European  Jewries. 

flung  insult  and  contumely  at  the  miserable 
ones!  Time  and  again  the  Jews  begged 
to  be  spared  this  disgrace,  but  for  two 
centuries  they  were  forced  to  endure  it, 
and  only  in  1668  Clement  IX  lent  a  fav- 
orable  ear  to  their  entreaty,  and  granted 
them  the  request  to  be  freed  from  the 
shame.  In  lieu  of  appearing  on  the  race 
course  they  paid  300  scudi  yearly  to  the 
papal  treasury. 

It  was  understood  that  the  Jews  lived 
in  Rome  only  on  sufferance,  and  yearly 
they  had  to  perform  the  ceremony  of 
asking  permission  to  dwell  there  another 
year.  On  the  first  day  of  the  carnival, 
the  heads  of  the  Jewish  community  ap¬ 
peared  before  the  council  of  the  city  as 
a  deputation  from  the  Jews.  They  pros¬ 
trated  themselves,  and  presented  a  bouquet 
and  twenty  scudi  to  be  used  in  decorating 
the  balcony  on  which  the  Roman  senate 
sat  during  the  carnival.  This  deputation 
at  the  same  time  requested  the  senate  to 
permit  the  Jews  to  remain  in  Rome.  A 
senator  placed  his  foot  on  the  forehead  of 
the  Jews,  bade  them  rise,  and  told  them, 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  143 

in  the  words  of  a  traditional  formula,  that 
the  Jews  were  not  taken  into  Rome  as 
citizens,  but  were  suffered  in  charity.101 
This  humiliation,  too,  they  were  spared  in 
1847  by  Pius  IX,  but  in  1850  they  still 
had  to  appear  at  the  Capitol  on  the  first 
day  of  the  carnival  to  express  their  sub¬ 
mission,  and  pay  a  tribute  of  eight  hun¬ 
dred  scudi  in  remembrance  of  the  favor 
that  they  were  excused  from  taking  part 
in  the  races  and  furnishing  amusement 
to  the  people  at  this  time. 

One  of  the  great  objects  of  the  popes 
was  to  convert  the  Jews  to  Christianity  by 
any  means  whatsoever,  since  they  firmly 
believed  that  by  this  they  were  accomplish¬ 
ing  an  important  and  holy  work.  From 
their  standpoint,  they  looked  upon  the 
Jews  as  lost.  They  attributed  the  refusal 
to  accept  Christianity  to  obstinacy  and 
blindness.  Various  methods  were  em¬ 
ployed  by  them,  but  the  strangest  of  all 
was  that  introduced  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII 
at  the  instigation  of  a  converted  Jew, 
Joseph  Tzarfati.  In  his  bull,  Sancta  mater 
ecclesia ,  of  September  1,  1584,  he  com- 


144  dW  European  Jewries . 

manded  that  in  all  places  where  there  was  a 
sufficient  number  of  Jews,  a  sermon  should 
be  preached  to  them  on  the  truths  of 
Christianity  every  Saturday.102  This  ser¬ 
mon  was  designated  predica  coattiva .  All 
Jews  above  the  age  of  twelve,  unless  pre¬ 
vented  by  sickness,  or  some  other  adequate 
excuse  to  be  given  to  the  bishop,  were  to 
attend,  so  that  always  at  least  one-third  of 
the  Jewish  population  was  to  be  pres¬ 
ent.  This  was  carried  out  in  Rome,  es¬ 
pecially  in  the  eighteenth  century.  On 
Saturday  afternoon,  the  strange  sight 
of  the  police  driving  men,  women,  and 
children  over  twelve  to  church  with  whips, 
could  be  witnessed  in  the  Roman  Ghetto. 
Saturday  afternoon  was  chosen,  because 
it  was  thought  that  the  words  preached  to 
them  in  the  church,  setting  forth  the  doc- 
trines  and  truths  of  Christianity,  compared 
with  the  teachings  of  Judaism  listened  to 
in  the  morning  in  the  synagogue,  would 
appear  so  far  superior  and  so  much  more 
worthy  of  acceptance  that  they  would 
be  converted  easily.  At  first  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  had  to  appear,  but  the  nun> 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  145 

ber  was  later  made  three  hundred.  At 
the  entrance  of  the  church  stood  a  watch¬ 
man,  who  counted  those  that  entered  to 
make  sure  that  the  number  was  full.  In 
the  church,  the  police  made  the  people 
pay  attention  ;  if  anyone  appeared  inat¬ 
tentive,  or  under  the  soporific  influence  of 
the  sermon  fell  asleep,  he  was  aroused  by 
blows  of  the  whip.  The  preacher,  usually 
a  Dominican,  took  as  his  text  some  pas¬ 
sage  from  the  Bible  read  in  the  morning 
in  the  synagogue,  and  gave  the  Catholic  in¬ 
terpretation.  These  services  were  first 
held  in  the  church  of  San  Benedetto  alia 
Regola,  afterwards  in  the  church  of  San 
Angelo  in  Pescaria.103  Needless  to  say, 
the  effort  proved  entirely  fruitless  ;  from 
a  weekly  it  dropped  into  an  occasional 
service,  held  five  times  a  year.  It  was 
gradually  dying  out  when  Leo  XII  re¬ 
vived  it  in  1824,  and  it  was  finally  abol¬ 
ished  in  1847,  the  first  year  of  Pius  IX. 

It  was  not  due  to  lack  of  zeal  on  the  part 
of  the  popes  and  the  church  that  the  Jews 
did  not  adopt  Christianity.  The  greatest 
inducements  were  held  out  to  converts  : 

I Q 


146  Old  European  Jewries. 

they  were  released  from  the  Ghetto,  and 
granted  all  civil  rights  and  privileges. 
Some  converts,  of  course,  there  were,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  veins  of 
many  bearing  proud,  old,  Roman  aristocra¬ 
tic  names  the  blood  of  these  converted  J  ews 
flows.  At  the  ceremony  adopting  a  J  ew  into 
Christianity,  always  performed  with  great 
show  and  pomp,  ad  majorem  Dei  et  eccle- 
sice  gloriam,  some  member  of  the  highest 
aristocracy  frequently  stood  sponsor,  and 
as  in  ancient  Rome  the  client  took  the  name 
of  his  patrician  patron,  so  here  the  con¬ 
verted  Jew  took  that  of  his  aristocratic 
sponsor.104  His  descendants  are  known 
by  that  name,  and  are  looked  upon  as  a 
branch  of  that  noble  family.  As  a  con¬ 
stant  reminder  of  their  obduracy  in  not 
accepting  Christianity,  there  was,  opposite 
the  Ghetto,  on  a  chapel  near  the  bridge 
Ouattro  Capi,  a  picture  of  the  crucifixion 
with  the  verse  Isaiah  LXV,  2:  “I  spread  out 
my  hands  all  the  time  unto  a  rebellious  peo¬ 
ple,  that  walk  in  the  way  which  is  not 
good.”  The  unremitting  efforts  at  con¬ 
version  met  with  partial  success,  A  num- 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome . 


H7 


ber  of  Jews  adopted  Christianity  in 
order  to  improve  their  lot  in  life,  and 
the  careers  of  some  of  these  apostates 
and  their  descendants  are  so  brilliant, 
striking  and  surprising  that  they  may  well 
excite  wonder.  I  mention  one,  because 
of  the  strange  fact  that  a  descendant  of 
the  despised  Jews  rose  to  the  highest 
position  in  the  Catholic  world,  a  sufficient 
excuse  for  introducing  a  short  account  of 
his  career.  It  is  stated  in  various  accounts 
that  the  anti-pope  Anacletus  II,  who  main¬ 
tained  himself  against  Innocent  II  and  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Catholic  clergy, 
was  of  Jewish  descent.105  Anacletus  was 
supported  in  his  claim  by  the  Romans, 
Sicilians  and  Milanese.  He  compelled  his 
rival  to  flee  from  Rome  twice,  and  main¬ 
tained  his  position  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  the  year  1 138.  The  following  ac¬ 
count  of  Anacletus  and  his  family  will 
leave  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  his  Jewish 
origin  : 

In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  the 
Roman  Jewish  family  Pierleoni  acquired 
great  riches,  and  having  become  converted 


148  Old  European  Jewries. 

to  Christianity,  played  a  great  role  in  Rome 
and  in  the  church.  The  anti-pope  Ana- 
cletus  II  ( 1 130 — 1 138),  the  cause  of  much 
dissension  in  Rome  and  in  the  church,  was 
a  scion  of  this  family.106  About  the  middle 
of  the  eleventh  century,  Benedict,  the  head 
of  the  family,  was  baptized,  and  married  a 
lady  of  the  Roman  nobility.  His  son,  Leo, 
and  his  grandson,  Peter  Leon,  with  whom 
the  name  Pierleoni  begins,  belonged  to  the 
grandees  of  Rome  ;  they  also  bore  the 
title  of  consul.  They  had  built  their 
castle  at  the  entrance  of  the  Ghetto, 
next  to  the  bridge  leading  to  the  island  of 
the  Tiber,  and  this  island  was  ruled  by 
them  ;  even  the  tower  of  the  Crescent 
was  intrusted  to  them  by  Pope  Urban  II  in 
1098.  In  the  struggle  between  the  popes 
and  the  emperors  regarding  the  investi¬ 
ture,  they  always  took  the  part  of  the  popes. 
Urban  II  had  died  in  1099,  in  the  castle  of 
Leo,  the  leader  of  the  papal  party,  the  only 
place  where  he  had  felt  secure.  Leo’s  son, 
Peter,  in  the  name  of  Pope  Pascal  II,  con¬ 
ducted  the  negotiations  regarding  the  in- 
vestiture  with  Emperor  Henry  V,  before 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 


149 


his  coronation  in  1 1 10.  He  died  in  r  1 28,  and 
one  epitaph  extols  his  piety,  while  another 
praises  him  “  as  a  man  unexcelled  in  riches 
and  glory.”107  He  had  sought  to  pro¬ 
cure  for  one  of  his  sons  the  highly  im¬ 
portant  office  of  prefect  of  the  city,  but 
had  failed  because  a  powerful  party  was 
opposed  to  him.  One  of  his  daughters 
became  the  wife  of  King  Roger,  of  Sicily, 
and  another  son,  also  named  Peter,  first 
appearedasamonk  in  Cluny.  Then  through 
the  efforts  of  his  father  he  became  cardi¬ 
nal,  and  finally,  in  the  year  1130,  he  was 
chosen  anti-pope  with  the  appellation  An- 
acletus  II.  According  to  contemporary 
writers,  whose  testimony,  however,  must 
be  used  with  much  care,  this  family  never 
entirely  lost  its  Jewish  type,  either  physi¬ 
cally  or  mentally.108  These  writers  also  say 
that  with  keen  foresight  they  ranged  them¬ 
selves  on  the  side  of  the  reform  popes,  and 
acquired  the  highest  political  influence. 
The  ancestor  of  the  family  had  amassed 
an  immense  fortune  by  money  transactions, 
and  the  rest  followed  in  his  footsteps.  His 
numerous  descendants  intermarried  largely 


1 50  Old  European  "pew vies. 

with  the  Roman  grandees.  The  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  nobility,  however,  hated 
them  as  upstarts. 

The  picture  which  these  chroniclers 
draw  of  Anacletus  is  not  very  flattering. 
No  doubt  they  were  influenced  by  a  parti¬ 
san  spirit,  as  they  were  all  strongly  in 
favorof  Innocent,  his  rival.109  Onereports 
that  Peter,  the  father  of  the  pope,  had 
the  reputation  of  being  an  execrable 
usurer,  and  was,  therefore,  most  bitterly 
hated.  Walter,  archbishop  of  Ravenna, 
calls  the  schism  of  Anacletus  a  “  heresy 
of  Jewish  perfidy.”  St.  Bernard  com¬ 
plains  that  a  descendant  of  the  Jews  oc¬ 
cupies  the  chair  of  Peter,  and  that  this  is 
an  affront  to  Christ.  Another  designates 
him  as  an  avaricious  and  inordinately  am¬ 
bitious  man.  Innocent  II,  the  rival 
claimant  to  the  papal  throne,  himself 
wrote  to  Emperor  Lothair,  who  sided 
with  him,  that  Peter  Leon,  i.  e.y  Anacle¬ 
tus,  had  been  striving  for  the  papal  crown 
for  a  long  time,  and  had  obtained  posses¬ 
sion  of  it  by  means  of  violence,  bloodshed 
and  robbery  ;  that  he  imprisoned  pilgrims 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  15 1 

who  came  from  a  distance  to  visit  the 
graves  of  the  apostles,  and  tortured  them 
by  every  means,  hunger,  thirst,  etc. 
Innocent,  in  a  letter  to  Hugo,  Archbishop 
of  Rouen,  also  calls  the  action  of  Anacle- 
tus  “insane  Jewish  perfidy.”110 

Anacletus  died  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1 138.  His  relatives  buried  him  quietly  in 
an  unknown  spot.111  Shortly  thereafter 
they,  with  all  their  adherents,  submitted 
to  Innocent. 

Evidently  this  anti-pope  was  neither 
better  nor  worse  than  the  great  majority  of 
the  occupants  of  the  papal  chair  of  that 
time.  If  contemporary  writers  may  be 
believed,  he  employed  every  means  to 
compass  his  ends.  In  one  point  they  all 
seem  to  be  agreed,  viz.,  that  he  was  of 
Jewish  descent,  and  this,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  made  him  much  more  despicable 
in  their  eyes  than  all  the  deeds  of  vio¬ 
lence.  His  career  furnishes  a  very  in¬ 
teresting  episode  in  the  history  of  the 

lews  of  Rome. 

* 

A  few  words  more  on  the  subject  of 
conversions.  There  were  houses  or  homes 


i  5  2  Old  European  yewries. 

for  catechumens,  a  monastery  for  males,  a 
convent  for  females,  where  all  such  Jews  as 
were  in  the  least  likely  to  be  converted  were 
kept,  taught  and  supported  until  the  time 
of  their  conversion.  If  he  had  once  con¬ 
sented,  by  word  or  sign,  to  adopt  Chris¬ 
tianity,  there  was  no  possibility  for  the 
Jew  to  retract.  There  are  many  in¬ 
stances  on  record  of  men  and  women, 
who,  regretting  their  resolve,  desired  to 
return  to  the  Jewish  community  before 
their  conversion,  but  were  not  permitted  ; 
some  met  death,  others  imprisonment,  as 
a  result  of  their  constancy.  The  affirma¬ 
tion  of  a  witness,  that  he  had  heard  a  Jew 
express  the  intention  to  adopt  Christianity, 
a  remark  dropped  in  conversation,  a  ges¬ 
ture,  was  considered  evidence  sufficient, 
and  the  papal  police  were  sent  into  the 
Ghetto  to  seize  the  candidate,  to  search 
for  him  if  he  could  not  be  found  at  once,  and 
to  bring  him  into  the  house  of  the  catechu- 
mens  by  force,  if  necessary.112  The  follow¬ 
ing  two  instances  illustrate  the  methods 
employed :  “On  the  5th  of  May,  1605, 
Stella,  the  daughter  of  Jacob,  was  brought 


153 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 

into  the  convent,  because  one  of  her  rela¬ 
tives,  a  catechumen,  affirmed  that,  in  his 
hearing,  she  had  expressed  the  wish  to  be¬ 
come  a  Christian.  After  resisting  for 
twenty-five  days,  she  consented  to  abjure 
her  faith.  She  was  baptized  under  the 
name  of  Hortense.”113 

“On  April  26,  1689,  upon  the  declara¬ 
tion  of  two  witnesses,  the  protector  of  the 
catechumens  sent  some  soldiers  into  the 
Ghetto  to  seize  a  young  girl  nineteen 
years  old.  The  Jews  hid  her  ;  her  mother 
and  brother  were  arrested,  and  the  young 
girl  had  to  surrender  herself.  She  did  not 
renounce  Judaism  until  the  fifth  day  of 
the  following  January.”114 

It  was  with  children  that  the  conver- 
sionists  scored  their  greatest  success.  If 
a  Christian  took  a  Jewish  child  in  the 
absence  of  its  parents,  and  had  it  baptized, 
it  was  considered  a  bona  fide  conversion. 
In  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  parents, 
the  tears  of  the  mother,  the  agony  of  the 
father,  their  child  was  kept  from  them,  and 
raised  as  a  Christian,  and  the  parents  per¬ 
haps  never  saw  it  more.  The  Mortara 


154  Old  European  Jewries. 

case,  in  this  century,  was  typical  of  many 
that  occurred  in  the  zeal  for  converting 
Jews.  Any  means  were  considered  legiti¬ 
mate. 

Intercourse  between  the  catechumen 
and  his  co-religionists  was  forbidden 
under  penalty  of  the  whipping-post  and  a 
fine  of  twenty-five  crowns ;  this  prohibi¬ 
tion  included  entering  the  Ghetto,  eating, 
drinking,  sleeping  with  Jews,  or  even 
speaking  to  them.  A  catechumen  appre¬ 
hended  in  conversation  with  his  own 
father  or  mother  was  severely  punished 
either  by  fine,  bastinado  or  exile. 

After  the  catechumen  had  expressed 
his  readiness  to  accept  the  faith,  the  sac¬ 
raments  were  administered  to  him  on 
some  feast  day,  either  Epiphany  or  Pen¬ 
tecost.  Usually  the  pope  himself  was 
present ;  the  presiding  cardinal  addressed 
the  multitude  at  length  upon  the  miracle 
about  to  take  place ;  thereupon  the  con¬ 
vert,  clothed  in  white  satin,  was  led 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  in  a  car¬ 
riage,  that  the  citizens  might  be  edified  by 
the  sight,  and  everybody  might  attest  the 


J55 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome . 

conversion.  If  the  convert  was  married, 
his  conversion  annulled  his  Jewish  marri¬ 
age,  and  he  could  wed  a  Christian  without 
ado.  There  was  in  Rome  a  society,  the 
Brotherhood  of  St.  Joseph,  whose  especial 
object  it  was  to  convert  Jews;  this  broth¬ 
erhood  was  favored  greatly  by  the  popes. 
Large  resources  were  required  to  further 
its  work  and  to  support  the  houses  of  the 
catechumens.  Whence  obtain  the  funds  ? 
What  portion  of  the  community  should  be 
taxed  to  carry  on  the  holy  work  of  convert¬ 
ing  Jews?  Who  was  benefited  more  by 
these  saintly  proceedings  than  Jews  them¬ 
selves?  Therefore,  let  the  Jewish  com¬ 
munities  be  taxed  for  this  purpose.  T ruly, 
a  brilliant  thought !  The  Jews  themselves 
were  to  furnish  the  sinews  of  war  for  the 
proselytizing  campaigns  of  Christianity 
among  their  own.  Julius  III,  in  his  bull, 
Pastoris  ceterni  vices ,  of  August  31,  1554, 
was  the  first  to  impose  this  tax  ;  ten  florins 
per  synagogue  was  the  quota  he  named. 
Later,  this  was  increased  greatly,  and  in 
the  period  from  1565  to  1568  ten  Jewish 
communities  of  Italy  were  compelled  to 
contribute  5238  crowns  for  this  purpose.115 


156  Old  European  Jewries. 

The  most  active  proselytizing  zeal  of 
the  popes  with  regard  to  the  Jews  coin¬ 
cides  with  the  period  of  the  Protestant 
Reformation,  as  though  they  wished  to 
offset  the  losses  occasioned  by  the  lapses 
from  Catholicism  to  Protestantism  by  ac¬ 
cessions  from  the  Jews. 

Vain  hope!  not  all  the  promises  of 
favor  succeeded  in  compassing  that  end  in 
more  than  a  slight  degree.  Amid  all  the 
horrors  of  the  Ghetto,  the  great  majority 
of  the  Jews  remained  true  to  their  inherited 
faith  even  though  renunciation  meant  the 
enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  benefits  of 
which,  as  Jews,  they  were  deprived. 

In  1712,  Clement  XI  transferred  the 
property  and  the  privileges  of  the  Brother¬ 
hood  of  St.  Joseph,  the  fraternity  that 
exercised  care  and  protection  over  the 
catechumens,  to  the  Pii  Operaip^  who  con¬ 
tinued  the  work,  but  at  present  their 
activity  as  agents  for  the  conversion  of 
the  J  ews  has  well  nigh  ceased.117 

The  Jewish  community  of  Rome,  al¬ 
though  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  popes, 
was  still,  in  a  measure,  autonomous.  Nat- 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  157 

urally,  Jewish  life  centred  in  the  syn¬ 
agogue.  This  was  situated  in  the  Piazza 
di  Scuola  or  Temple  Court.  The  build¬ 
ing  consisted  of  five  synagogues  com¬ 
bined,  the  Catalonian,  the  Sicilian,  the 
Castilian,  the  New  Synagogue  and  the 
Temple  proper. IlS  In  all  likelihood,  they 
received  their  names  from  the  different 
rituals  used,  and  were  probably  founded  by 
exiles  from  various  countries  who  sought 
refuge  in  Rome.  These  synagogues, 
though  virtually  distinct,  were  all  united 
into  one  building,  because  the  Jews  were 
not  permitted  to  have  more  than  one 
house  of  worship.  The  structure  was  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire  in  the  winter  of  1893,  and 
many  valuable  relics  were  consumed  in 
the  flames.  All  the  debris  of  prayer  books, 
Bibles,  etc.,  rescued  from  the  fire  was  buried 
in  the  cemetery,  and  a  memorial  stone  is 
to  be  erected  over  the  spot. 

The  Jewish  community  of  Rome  was 
looked  up  to  by  the  other  Italian  Jewish 
communities  as  having  a  certain  pre-emi¬ 
nence.  The  rabbi’s  influence  was  prepon¬ 
derating.  The  executive  heads  of  the  com- 


158  Old  European  Jewries. 

munity  were  the  three  fattori;  they  regu¬ 
lated  the  taxes,  and  superintended  the 
weekly  distribution  of  alms  to  the  poor. 
They  were  held  responsible  by  the  pope 
for  the  good  order  of  the  Ghetto.  The 
legislative  body  of  the  Ghetto  was  the 
council  of  sixty;  its  duty  was  the  regula¬ 
tion  of  the  internal  life  of  the  Ghetto;  it 
named  the  officers,  chose  the  rabbi,  and 
exercised  the  right  of  excommunication. 
As  may  be  readily  understood,  its  power 
was  only  advisory.  Its  decisions  had  to 
be  sanctioned  by  the  papal  officer  who  had 
jurisdiction  over  the  Ghetto. 

The  edict  of  Pius  VI  issued  on  April  5, 
1 775,  remains  to  be  mentioned.  It  has 
been  termed  “  the  blackest  page  in  the 
history  of  mankind.”119  It  consisted  of 
forty-four  paragraphs,  and  repeated,  in  the 
harshest  manner,  all  the  old  restrictive 
legislation  in  reference  to  Jews.  The 
thirty-seventh  paragraph  may  be  given 
here  as  the  last  official  expression  bearing 
upon  our  subject : 

“  J ews  of  both  sexes  may  not  live  outside 
of  the  Ghettos.  They  may  not  sojourn  in 


159 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 

villages,  on  country  estates,  in  castles, 
parks  or  anywhere  else  on  any  pretext 
whatsoever,  not  even  on  the  plea  that 
they  require  change  of  air,  and  if  they  re¬ 
quire  such  change,  and  they  wish  to  go 
away  and  remain  even  one  day,  they  must 
be  particular — according  to  the  decree  of 
the  holy  assembly  of  May  19,  1751,  agree¬ 
ing  with  a  like  decree  of  Alexander  VII, 
of  September  6,  1661 — to  secure  a  written 
permission  in  which  must  be  contained 
the  name,  the  surname  and  the  descent  of 
the  Jew,  the  legal  ground  upon  which 
the  permission  was  granted  him,  the  length 
of  time  of  its  validity,  together  with  the 
conditions  that  the  Jews  must  wear  the 
sign  on  the  hat  as  is  directed  above  in  Ar¬ 
ticle  20,  and  that  they  may  not  live  with 
Christians,  nor  associate  with  them  in 
friendly  companionship.  Upon  return, 
they  shall  give  back  the  permit  to  the 
court  from  which  they  received  it  under 
pain  of  a  fine  of  three  hundred  scudi,  im¬ 
prisonment  and  other  discretional  penal¬ 
ties  for  every  act  of  disobedience.” 

The  inhumanity  that  breathes  in  this 


160  Old  European  Jewries. 

decree  is  characteristic  of  the  whole  edict. 
The  saturnine  spirit  of  Paul  IV  lived  again 
in  Pius  VI.  But  temporary  relief  at  least 
was  coming  for  the  victims  of  centuries  of 
persecution.  In  1798,  Pius  VI,  after  the 
occupation  of  Rome  by  the  army  of  the 
French  Republic,  left  the  city  never  to 
return.  The  Roman  Republic  was  pro¬ 
claimed.  The  Jews  profited  by  the  new 
state  of  things.  Although  the  French  oc¬ 
cupied  the  city  a  little  less  than  two  years, 
and  later  the  old  condition  of  affairs  was 
in  part  re-established,  yet  one  of  the  great¬ 
est  indignities  to  which  the  Jews  had  been 
subjected  was  abolished  at  this  time.  On 
July  9,  1  798,  the  distinguishing  mark  that 
the  Jews  had  been  forced  to  wear  was 
officially  abolished  by  an  edict  of  General 
St.  Cvr. 

j 

In  1800,  the  new  pope,  Pius  VII,  en¬ 
tered  Rome.  He  evinced  kindly  feeling 
toward  his  Jewish  subjects,  although  he 
did  nothing  effectual  to  improve  their  con¬ 
dition.  In  1808  the  French  aeain  occu- 
pied  Rome.  The  pope  was  led  away  a 
prisoner.  The  affairs  of  the  Jews  were 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  1 6 1 

taken  in  hand  by  the  French.  They  were 
given  equal  rights  with  all  citizens.  The 
crates  of  the  Ghetto  were  not  locked  at 

o 

night.  They  were  granted  permission  to 
carry  on  any  trade.  This  meant  a  great 
deal,  for  Innocent  XIII,  in  renewing  Paul 
IV’s  infamous  bull,  had  added  thereto,  in 
i  724,  the  restriction  that  the  Jews  of  Rome 
be  permitted  to  ply  no  trade  but  that  of 
dealing  in  old  clothes,  rags  and  iron.  A 
few  years  later,  in  1740,  Benedict  XIV 
extended  this  by  allowing  them  to  deal 
also  in  new  clothes.  Their  freedom,  how¬ 
ever,  lasted  but  a  short  time.  Pius  VII 
returned  to  Rome  in  1814  after  the  de¬ 
parture  of  the  French.  Although  the  new 
regulations  that  had  been  instituted  by 
the  French  were  annulled,  yet  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  affairs  was  an  improvement  upon 
what  it  had  been  before  the  French  in¬ 
vasion.  The  pope  permitted  the  Jews  to 
open  stores  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Ghetto 
outside  of  its  walls.  A  small  number  of 
families  were  also  permitted  to  live  outside 
of  the  Ghetto. 

His  successor,  Leo  XII  (1823 


1829), 


1 62  Old  European  Jewries . 

gave  the  Jews  the  right  to  acquire  houses 
over  and  beyond  those  covered  by  the  jus 
gazzaga.  He  increased  the  number  of 
the  gates  of  the  Ghetto  to  eight,  which 
were  closed  every  night.  He  legislated  for 
the  most  part  in  the  old  spirit,  and  many  of 
the  more  prominent  families  emigrated 
from  Rome  to  other  lands,  where  Jews 
enjoyed  greater  freedom.  The  next  popes, 
Pius  VIII  (1829 — 1830),  and  Gregory 
XVI  ( 1831 — 1846),  did  nothing  for  the  bet- 
termemt  of  the  lot  of  their  Jewish  subjects. 

But  even  Rome  had  to  pay  regard  to 
the  spirit  of  liberation  and  emancipation 
abroad  everywhere  in  Europe,  and,  in 
1847,  the  new  pope,  Pius  IX,  who  had 
lately  ascended  the  papal  throne,  deter¬ 
mined  to  have  the  ^ates  and  walls  of  the 
Ghetto  destroyed,  and  to  permit  the  Jews 
to  dwell  anywhere  in  the  city.  On  the 
eve  of  Passover,  April  17,  1848,  strange 
sounds  were  heard  by  the  Jews,  who  were 
celebrating  their  feast.  Often  in  the 
past  had  sounds  and  noises  on  that  night 
struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  Jewish 
inhabitants  of  more  than  one  Ghetto.  But 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  163 

too  frequently  on  this  occasion  had  ene¬ 
mies  and  excited  mobs  accused  them  of  hav¬ 
ing  murdered  a  Christian  to  use  his  blood  at 
their  feast.  Faces  blanched  and  limbs 
trembled,  for  the  poor  creatures  knew 
well  what  misery  and  trouble  that  lie 
always  bore  in  its  train.120  For  once,  the 
sounds  from  without  on  the  Passover  eve 
bore  a  joyful  message.  The  purpose  of 
demolishing  the  walls  of  the  Ghetto  had 
been  kept  a  secret  from  the  Jews  of  Rome, 
and  when  they  learned  the  import  of  the 
blows  that  resounded  in  the  night,  what 
joy,  what  happiness  was  theirs  !  At  last 
the  walls  of  the  Ghetto  were  removed, 
and  they  were  free  men  like  all  others  ! 
But  their  joy  was  not  of  long  duration. 
The  policy  of  Pius  IX  was  liberal  in 
the  first  two  years  of  his  reign,  but  a 
reactionary  movement  set  in  after  the 
revolutions  of  1848,  and  the  Ghetto  was  re¬ 
established.  For  twenty-two  years  longer, 
despite  the  removal  of  Ghettos  every¬ 
where,  it  continued  to  stand,  a  reproach 
to  the  city.  In  1870,  the  Jews  themselves 
took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  prepared  a 


164  Old  European  Jewries . 

remarkable  petition,  begging  for  the  aboli¬ 
tion  of  the  Ghetto,  and  setting  forth  their 
sad  plight.  The  opening  portion  of  this 
important  document  (first  published  a  few 
years  ago),121  which  graphically  describes 
the  horrors  of  the  Ghetto  and  the  misery 
of  its  inhabitants,  may  properly  find  a 
place  here.  The  Jews  of  Rome  addressed 
the  ruler  under  whose  power  they  lived, 
and  in  whose  mercy  they  trusted,  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“  Most  Holy  Father  !  The  elders  and 

J 

the  delegates  of  the  Jewish  community  of 
Rome,  faithful  subjects  of  your  Holiness, 
prostrate  themselves  before  your  exalted 
throne,  and  offer  the  assurance  of  the 
continued  loyalty  of  their  co-religionists. 
This  feeling  of  loyalty  is  the  result  of  the 
many  conspicuous  deeds  of  kindness  which 
we,  O  Holy  Father,  have  experienced  at 
your  hands,  and  we  are  now  animated  by 
the  pleasant  sensation  of  hope,  since  your 
exalted  will  has  consented  to  receive  new 
petitions  in  its  name.  In  fulfilment  of  the 
duty  imposed  on  them,  the  petitioners 
presume  humbly  and  reverently  to  lay  be- 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  165 

fore  your  holy  wisdom  and  mildness  the 
present,  exceedingly  wretched  condition  of 
their  co-religionists.  May  you  deign  to  cast 
a  gracious  glance  from  your  exalted  throne 
upon  those,  who,  though  Israelites,  are  a 
portion  of  your  people. 

Your  Holiness  gave  them  permission 
to  occupy  houses  for  dwelling  and  business 
purposes  beyond  the  boundaries  set  in 
earlier  times.  They  have  gradually  per¬ 
ceived  that  this  concession  has  not  pro¬ 
duced  the  beneficial  effects  which,  without 
doubt,  lay  in  the  thought  of  your  Holi¬ 
ness.  The  streets  which  by  that  conces¬ 
sion  they  could  use  are  very  narrow. 
Room  for  residence  purposes  has  been 
further  diminished  by  the  palaces  and  re¬ 
ligious  institutions  here  and  there,  so  that 
many  families  that  otherwise  would  have 

removed  from  the  old  section  remained 

♦ 

there.  Therefore  the  contiguity  of  the 
houses  and  the  massing  of  the  inhabitants, 
with  all  the  resultant  evils,  continue  much 
as  they  were  twenty-two  years  ago. 

These  evils  are  most  noticeable  in 
Azinelle,  Catalana  and  Fiumara  streets. 


1 66  Old  European  Jewries. 

These,  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by  the 
poorest  classes,  chiefly  rag-pickers  and  sel¬ 
lers  of  old  soles,  defy  all  the  laws  of  health. 

In  the  streets  Azinelle  and  Catalana, 
light  and  air  are  very  scarce.  Seldom  or 
never  does  a  ray  of  the  sun  penetrate  there; 
yet  small,  narrow  ground-floors  must  serve 
for  dwellings  and  stores.  This  condition 
of  affairs  brings  forth  even  worse  results 
in  Fiumara  street,  which  lies  so  low  that 
whenever  the  Tiber  rises  floods  ensue,  and 
the  dampness  which  remains  long  after 
the  water  has  receded  becomes  a  source 
of  disease,  jeopardizing  health  and  often 
life.  The  prohibition  to  have  stores 
outside  of  the  set  boundaries,  considered 
from  another  point  of  view,  is  no  less  in¬ 
jurious  to  the  Israelites.  They  meet  with 
difficulties,  sometimes  insuperable,  if  they 
desire  to  devote  their  activity  to  some  oc¬ 
cupation  besides  trading,  more  particularly 
trading  in  clothes.  They  cast  their  eye 
upon  many  branches  of  industry,  art  and 
science;  but  in  the  condition  to  which  they 
have  been  degraded,  they  can  entertain  no 
hope  of  entering  upon  any  other  career. 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  167 

I11  the  retail  and  wholesale  branches  of  the 
clothing  business,  which  formerly  they 
controlled,  foreign  and  home  competitors 
have  arisen  in  the  past  few  decades.  These 
competitors,  with  their  magnificent  stores 
situated  in  the  most  populous  and  the 
richest  portions  of  the  city,  have  drawn 
greatly  from  the  trade  of  the  Israelites, 
confined,  as  they  are,  to  a  single  and  less 
prominent  section.  As  a  result,  many 
have  been  entirely  ruined ;  others  have 
continued  to  eke  out  a  living  with  care 
and  trouble  ;  still  others,  the  richest  men 
of  the  community,  discouraged  by  their 
losses,  deprived  of  the  right  to  own  real  es¬ 
tate,  which  would  have  secured  their  for¬ 
tune,  have  emigrated  to  other  lands,  leav¬ 
ing  the  great  majority  to  whom  they  had 
given  help  and  imparted  advice.  These 
now  of  necessity  sink  to  even  lower 
depths  of  wretchedness. 

It  certainly  does  not  escape  your  wise 
insight,  Holy  Father,  how  such  a  concur¬ 
rence  of  difficulties  must  greatly  increase 
the  burdens  of  the  pious  Israelitish  insti¬ 
tutions,  which  were  founded,  and  are  al- 


1 68  Old  European  Jewries. 

most  entirely  supported  by  private  charity. 
For,  owing  to  the  above  mentioned  emigra¬ 
tion  of  those  families  who  formerly  man¬ 
aged  the  different  institutions,  and  en- 
deavored,  with  great  zeal  and  love,  to  im¬ 
prove  them,  only  sparse  and  occasional 
revenues  remain  to  meet  the  greatest  and 
most  pressing  needs.  The  difficulties  of 
providing  for  their  own  support,  prevent 
those  to  whom  the  management  of  these 
institutions  has  now  fallen  from  devoting 
themselves  to  the  work,  all  the  more  neces¬ 
sary  since  destitution  is  continually  in¬ 
creasing.  This  community  has  not  suffi¬ 
cient  means  to  alleviate  the  want,  for  its 
status  as  fixed  by  law  and  its  poverty 
prevent  any  attempt  towards  that  end  from 
being-  successful. 

o 

The  Jewish  community  has,  it  is  true, 
founded  an  elementary  school  for  religious 
and  civic  instruction,  but  impelled  by 
hunger,  the  son  of  poor  parents  leaves 
school  while  of  tender  years  in  order 
to  procure  the  piece  of  bread  with  which 
his  parents  cannot  supply  him,  and  to  look 
for  a  rag  with  which  to  cover  his  naked- 

o 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  169 

ness.  Pack-carrier,  rag-picker,  vender  of 
matches,  messenger  and  waiter,  buyer  of 
old  soles,  water  carrier,  bearer  of  burdens, 
he  becomes,  and  never,  never  anything 
else  !  No  other  nourishment  for  his  intel¬ 
lectual  and  moral  nature  !  His  forehead — 
persecutions  have  pressed  the  seal  of  con¬ 
tempt  on  it — cannot  boast  of  the  noble 
sweat  of  work,  his  hand  cannot  show  the 
honorable  hardness  of  the  workman’s. 
Abandoned  to  his  poverty,  deprived  of  all 
means  to  combat  it  energetically,  he  eventu¬ 
ally  comes  to  identify  himself  completely 
with  his  misery.  He  cannot  even  hope 
for  an  alleviation  of  his  condition  such  as 
others  can  find  in  the  tasks  which  the  mu¬ 
nicipality  provides.  He  instinctively  feels 
that  he  has  been  robbed  of  the  most  pre¬ 
cious  possessions  here  below,  and  in  his 
despair  he  loses  all  consciousness  of  his 
human  dignity.  He  celebrates  weddings 
which  have  no  joy  for  him  ;  even  the  fam¬ 
ily  loses  its  exalted  character.  In  the 
dismal  room,  exposed  to  all  the  influences 
of  bitter  poverty,  a  single  bed  stands,  upon 
which,  regardless  of  every  consideration  of 

’  O  J 


i  70  Old  European  Jewries. 

health  and  chastity,  parents  and  the  troop 
of  children  of  every  age  and  sex  lie  down 
together.  The  governing  body  of  the 
community,  indeed,  takes  account  of  the 
moral  disorder  and  the  diseases  which  such 
a  state  of  affairs  causes  ;  but  how  can  any 
preventive  measures  be  effectually  adopted 
when  there  are  hundreds  and  hundreds  of 
such  families  !  And  although  you,  Holy 
Father,  took  this  community,  too,  under 
the  wings  of  your  exalted  kindness,  and  gave 
it  a  share  of  the  state  charities,  yet  did 
those  unto  whom  the  carrying  out  of  the 
merciful  act  of  the  great  sovereign  was  in¬ 
trusted,  devote  but  three  hundred  scudi  to 
this  purpose,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
more  than  two  thousand  poor  are  enrolled 
for  weekly  alms.  Those  of  moderate  means 
exhaust  their  resources  in  the  strimo-le 

o  o 

with  the  burdens  which  they  are  compelled 
to  bear,  viz.,  the  taxes  which  they  have  to 
pay  in  common  with  the  whole  population, 
and  the  special  tax  imposed  on  their  re¬ 
ligious  community.  They  are  also  obliged, 
besides  paying  other  taxes  of  the  congre¬ 
gation,  to  give  a  fixed  sum  yearlv  to  two 

o  7  <x>  ✓  + 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome,  171 

Catholic  foundations,  the  casa  pia  of  the 
catechumens  and  the  convent  of  the  con¬ 
verts,  two  institutions  for  the  conversion 
of  Jews,  and  must  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
governing  body  of  the  Jewish  community, 
which  consists  of  non-Jews.  With  each 
biennial  renewal  of  the  so-called  tax  for 
industry  and  capital,  they  complain  of  the 
continual  increase  of  the  sums  they  must 
expend  in  consequence  of  the  falling  off  of 
other  contributions  due  to  business  mis¬ 
fortunes,  and  they  accuse  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  arbitrariness  and  injustice.” 

The  memorial  then  goes  on  to  give  at 
length  a  history  of  the  Jewish  community 
of  Rome,  dwelling  upon  the  kindness  of 
the  popes  towards  the  Jews  and  their  fav¬ 
orable  position  up  to  the  time  of  Paul  IV. 
The  later  legislation,  which,  in  spite  of  oc¬ 
casional  intervals  of  clemency,  gradually 
depressed  and  degraded  the  Jews,  is  set 
forth  in  detail.  “The  unfortunates,  op¬ 
pressed  in  the  present,  despairing  of  the 
future,  excluded  from  civil  rights,  grew 
less  and  less  familiar  to  the  community  at 
large,  and  at  the  same  time  more  and 


172  Old  European  Jewries . 

more  powerless  to  fight  the  slanders  di¬ 
rected  against  their  domestic  and  com¬ 
munal  life,  their  religious  belief  and  their 
history,  so  that  their  spiritual  elasticity 
was  lamed,  and  their  naturally  great  en¬ 
ergy  weakened.  Thus  they  sank  in  the 
estimation  of  their  fellow  citizens,  and 
what  was  still  more  deplorable,  in  that  of 
the  exalted  popes  by  whom  they  had  been 
so  highly  honored  formerly.” 

The  petition  adduces  evidence  from 
non-Jewish  sources  of  the  worth  of  many 
of  the  Jews  of  Rome,  speaks  of  the  re¬ 
markable  careers  of  Jewish  physicians 
who  attended  popes,  cardinals  and  other 
dignitaries,  calls  attention  to  the  learned 
Jews  of  Rome,  such  as  Nathan  ben  Jechiel, 
compiler  of  the  A  ruck,  the  first  Talmudi- 
cal  dictionary,  Immanuel,  the  poet,  the 
friend  of  Dante,  Giulio  Romano,  the  phi¬ 
losopher,  and  others,  and  closes  with  the 
following  strong  prayer  : 

'‘Accustomed  as  the  undersigned  are  to 
bless  your  name,  they  hope  not  to  have 
spoken  in  vain  to  your  fatherly  heart  of 
the  sad  lot  still  theirs  ;  the  insalubritv  of 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome.  173 

the  old  Jewish  dwellings  ;  the  exceedingly 
contracted  space  granted  the  Jews  for 
homes  ;  the  direct  and  indirect  obstacles 
to  the  free  pursuit  of  the  trades,  the  fine 
arts  and  the  larger  number  of  industries  ; 
the  limited  right  to  possess  real  estate  ; 
the  denial  on  the  part  of  some  notaries  of 
their  right  to  act  as  witnesses;  the  alarm¬ 
ing  increase  of  poverty;  the  impotence  of 
the  Israelitish  benevolent  institutions  to 
prevent  or  lessen  misery  ;  the  impropriety 
of  the  yearly  appropriations  paid  by  order 
of  the  finance  commission  to  two  Catholic 
institutions ;  the  alarm  of  the  rich,  who,  in 
consequence  of  the  mentioned  burdens,- 
are  subjected  to  many  pecuniary  sacri¬ 
fices  required  by  their  own  religious 
foundations,  and  others  which  the  indebt¬ 
edness  of  their  benevolent  institutions 
demands  of  them  ;  the  inability  to  take 
energetic  measures  for  the  better  educa- 
tion  of  the  greatly  increasing  poorer  class — 
all  this  (misery),  O  Holy  Father,  must 
appeal  to  you,  in  such  a  degree,  that  your 
own  heart  will  find  it  advisable  not  to  delay 
the  carrying  out  of  the  good  deed,  for 


1 74 


Old  European  Jewries. 

paupercs  facti  sumus  nimis ,  we  have  be¬ 
come  too  impoverished,  and  the  prayer 
which  the  undersigned  whisper  in  the 
hearing  of  your  Holiness  is  the  prayer  of 
forty-eight  hundred  of  your  subjects. 

H  ear  us,  O  Holy  Father,  so  that  the 
children  of  Israel  may  once  again  benefit 
by  that  noble  generosity  inseparably  con¬ 
nected  with  your  immortal  name  !  ” 

The  day  of  deliverance,  however,  was 
at  hand,  arriving  sooner  than  they  had 
expected.  While  the  Jews  of  Rome  were 
preparing  this  petition  for  the  final  aboli¬ 
tion  of  the  Ghetto,  the  pope  was  still  mas¬ 
ter  of  the  destinies  of  the  city.  But  the 
occasion  never  came  to  present  it,  for  the 
temporal  sway  of  the  pope  came  to  an  end, 
when  on  September  20,  1870,  the  Italian 
kingdom  with  Victor  Immanuel  as  king 
was  established.  The  Jews  changed  mas¬ 
ters.  They  welcomed  their  king  enthusi¬ 
astically.  New  hopes  were  aroused  in  the 
Jewish  community.  The  Ghettos  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  popes  were  virtually  abolished. 
The  Ghetto  of  Rome  stood,  it  is  true,  fif¬ 
teen  years  longer.  It  was  only  in  1885 


The  Ghetto  of  Rome. 


1 75 


that  it  began  to  be  demolished,  having 
stood  longer  than  any  Ghetto  in  western 
Europe.  But  now  this  remnant  of 
mediaeval  exclusion  has  passed  away. 
The  J  ews  of  Rome,  with  new  opportuni¬ 
ties,  are  taking  an  honored  position  among 
their  Italian  countrymen.  It  is  a  long 
story  of  oppression,  lasting  just  eighteen 
hundred  years,  from  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  and  the  depor¬ 
tation  of  the  Jewish  captives  to  Rome  in 
70,  to  the  accession  of  Victor  Immanuel 
in  1870.  Eighteen  hundred  years  ! 
Rome  has  had  many  masters.  Emperors, 
northern  conquerors,  popes,  Rienzi,  pow¬ 
erful  families,  such  as  the  Colonnas,  Orsinis, 
Borgias,  have  appeared  on  the  scene,  and 
lived  their  short  day.  Through  it  all,  in 
that  wretched  quarter  on  the  Tiber,  amid 
disadvantages  inconceivable  and  under 
burdens  vast,  the  Jewish  community  lived 
on,  unchanged  amid  change,  steadfast 
in  oppression,  firm  in  faith  and  trust  in 
the  God  of  their  fathers  !  The  tocsin  of 
freedom  has  sounded,  and  from  out  the 
dark  hole  of  forced  seclusion  Judaism’s 


i  76  Old  European  Jewries. 

followers  have  issued  into  the  broad  light 
of  liberty.  Let  others  account  for  it  as 
they  may  ;  we  see,  in  the  long  history  and 
the  continued  existence  of  this  people,  the 
hand  of  Providence  directing  the  course 
of  those  who  lived  and  suffered  for  the 
truth. 

May  prosperity  find  the  descendants  of 
the  Jews  of  the  Ghetto  as  faithful  as  ad¬ 
versity  found  their  ancestors  ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  RUSSIAN  GHETTO. 

The  Judengasse  of  Frankfort  has  become 
a  memory,  the  Judenstadt  of  Prague  has 
ceased  to  be  the  compulsory  dwelling  place 
of  the  J  ews,  the  Ghetto  of  Rome  has  been 
demolished — everywhere  in  Europe  relics 
of  hostile  legislation  have  disappeared  be¬ 
fore  the  enlightened,  tolerant  spirit  of  the 
age.  Everywhere?  Nay,  not  so.  We 
should  have  said,  everywhere  west  of  the 
boundaries  of  the  empire  of  the  Tzar. 
There,  in  barbarous  Russia,  the  mediaeval 
spirit  still  rules,  and  a  Ghetto  exists  whose 
condition  is  more  horrible  perhaps  than 
ever  that  of  any  Ghetto  of  earlier  days.  It 
stands  forth  in  a  blackness  the  more  intense 
because  of  the  sun  of  tolerance  that 
shines  everywhere  else.  It  is  not  the 
Ghetto  with  which  we  have  become  ac¬ 
quainted  thus  far,  a  street  or  section  set 
apart  in  a  town  or  city,  but  a  district  set 

(177 ) 


12 


i  78  Old  European  Jewries . 

apart  in  a  country.  The  Jew  is  told,  “  only 
in  certain  sections  of  the  land  you  may 
dwell.”  The  Russian  persecutions  are 
the  crime  of  the  century,  and  this  massing 
of  millions  of  people  within  a  compara¬ 
tively  small  section,  and  closing  the  whole 
of  the  remaining  portion  of  the  land  against 
them  is  the  height  of  malicious  ingenuity. 
This  Russian  Ghetto  is  known  as  the 
Pale  of  Settlement.  In  the  whole  of  Rus¬ 
sia,  not  counting  Poland  (for  “in  stealing 
Poland,  Russia  had  to  take  its  J ews,  too  ”), 
Jews  are  permitted  to  reside  only  in  the 
following  fifteen  gubernia :  Wilna,  Kowno, 
Vitebsk,  Grodno,  Minsk,  Moghilev,  Vol- 
hynia,  Podolia,  in  West  Russia ;  Kiev 
(exclusive  of  the  city  of  Kiev),  Tcherni- 
eov  and  Poltava,  in  the  Ukraine  or  Little 
Russia;  Ekaterinoslav,  Taurida  (except 
Sebastopol),  Kherson  (except  Nikolaiev), 
and  Bessarabia,  in  South  Russia.  From 
Great  Russia,  from  the  provinces  of  Kazan 
and  Astrakhan,  from  Finland  and  the  Bal¬ 
tic  Provinces  they  are  entirely  excluded.122 
Even  in  the  Pale  of  Settlement  they  are 
permitted  to  dwell  in  the  cities  only,  and 


The  Russian  Ghetto.  1 79 

thus  there  has  been  created  a  Pale  within 
the  Pale.  What  makes  the  crowd  in  a- 

o 

within  these  pens  the  harder  to  bear  is  the 
fact  that  for  a  time  a  little  light  had  ap¬ 
peared,  and  the  Jews  had  been  permitted 
under  certain  conditions  to  dwell  outside 
the  Pale  of  Settlement.  Alexander  II 
had  lightened  the  burden  of  the  Jews  some¬ 
what,  and  in  1865  had  granted  permission 
to  dwell  where  they  pleased  to  Jews  in 
possession  of  university  diplomas,  to  mer¬ 
chants  of  the  first  guild,  and  to  artisans. 
Besides,  Jews  were  tolerated  in  the  princi¬ 
pal  ports,  such  as  Riga,  Libau,  Rostov. 
The  number  who  had  taken  advantage  of 
this  permission  reached  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands.  After  the  assassination  of  the 
humane  Tzar,  the  evil  days  began.  A 
spirit  of  fanaticism,  fed  by  cries  of  pan¬ 
slavism  and  supremacy  of  the  Russian  or¬ 
thodox  religion,  became  rampant,  and  the 
first  victims  to  feel  the  terrible  effects 
were  the  Jews.  In  May,  1882,  by  the  in¬ 
spiration  of  the  tyrant  Ignatieff,  the  so- 
called  May  laws,  fraught  with  so  much 
misery,  were  promulgated.  These  laws 


1 80  Old  European  yewrics. 

ordered  (i)  that  as  a  temporary  measure, 
until  a  general  revision  of  the  laws  con- 
cerning  the  Jews  can  be  made  in  a  proper 
manner,  the  Jews  be  forbidden  to  settle 
outside  the  towns,  the  only  exceptions  be¬ 
ing  in  Jewish  colonies  that  existed  before, 
and  whose  inhabitants  are  agriculturists  ; 
and  (2)  that  the  completion  of  instru¬ 
ments  of  purchase  of  real  property  and 
mortgages  in  the  name  of  Jews,  the  regis¬ 
tration  of  Jews  as  lessees  of  landed  estates 
situated  outside  the  precincts  of  towns, 
and  the  issue  of  powers  of  attorney  to 
enable  Jews  to  manage  and  dispose  of 
such  property,  be  suspended  temporarily.123 
These  laws  were  made  to  refer  to  the  Pale 
of  Settlement.  The  Russo-Jewish  Com¬ 
mittee  of  London  commenting  on  these 
laws  says,  “  The  effect  of  the  first  clause  of 
this  enactment  would  clearly  be  to  create 
a  Pale  within  the  Pale.  Hitherto,  ordi¬ 
nary  Jews,  if  prevented  from  going  be¬ 
yond  the  Pale,  could  move  from  town  to 
village,  and  from  village  to  village,  within 
the  Pale.  This  was  to  be  stopped.  In 
process  of  time,  all  the  Jews  of  the  Pale 


The  Russian  Ghetto.  1 8 1 

would  be  cooped  up  in  the  towns  and 
townlets  found  within  it.  There  they 
might  be  left  ‘to  stew  in  their  own  juice.’ 

The  second  clause  was  not  less  wide- 
reaching  in  its  scope,  for  it  tended  to  the 
same  end,  by  restricting  still  further  the 
possibility  of  Jewish  life  in  the  country. 
If  a  Jew  might  not  acquire  land  by  pur¬ 
chase,  mortgage  or  lease,  or  have  any¬ 
thing  to  do  with  landed  estate,  his  country 
life  must  come  to  an  end,  and  even  the 
favored  exceptions,  permitted  to  reside  in 
the  villages  as  old  inhabitants,  would  have 
no  work  to  occupy  them.”124  Upon  the 
enforcement  of  these  laws,  the  popula¬ 
tions  of  the  overcrowded  cities  and  towns 
were  augmented  by  the  thousands  com¬ 
pelled  to  leave  their  homes  in  the  country 
and  the  villages  ;  it  amounted  to  virtual 
expulsion,  for,  unable  to  find  a  resting 
place,  the  unfortunates  had  to  leave  Rus¬ 
sia.  The  expulsions  of  1882  are  still 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  all.  The  unprece¬ 
dented  cruelty  and  inhumanity  of  these 
May  laws  called  forth  so  indignant  a  pro¬ 
test  in  Western  Europe  and  in  America 


r82  Old  Ettropean  Jewries. 

as  to  bring  about  the  deposal  of  Ignatieff 
from  favor,  and  with  it  the  partial  suspen¬ 
sion  of  his  laws.  But  the  persecuting 
spirit  has  been  at  work,  and  since  1888, 
when  it  broke  forth  more  strongly  than 
ever,  the  May  laws  have  been  rigorously 
enforced.  A  new  power  had  arisen  in 
the  land.  Pobiedonostseff,  the  primate 
of  the  Russian  church,  a  man  possessed 
of  that  “true  malignity  of  genius  that 
makes  a  grand  inquisitor,”  had  obtained 
complete  mastery  over  the  Tzar’s  mind. 
The  miseries  of  the  Russian  Jews  have 
increased  hundredfold.  The  crowding 
into  the  cities  of  the  Pale  goes  on  apace. 
Towns  such  as  Tchernigov,  of  five  thou¬ 
sand  Jews,  have  had  the  number  increased 
to  twenty  thousand. 

So  Berditchev  in  the  province  of  Kiev, 
in  1890,  was  supposed  to  contain  about 
60,000  inhabitants,  two-thirds  Jews.  An 
acute  observer  says  of  the  effects  of  the 
edicts  upon  this  town:  “It  was  then  an 
overcrowded  place,  made  up  for  the  most 
part  of  old  and  insanitary  rookeries,  in 
which  was  huddled  one  of  the  poorest 


The  Russian  Ghetto .  183 

populations  to  be  found  anywhere  in  Eu¬ 
rope.  By  August,  1891,  it  was  said  that 
fully  twenty  thousand  additional  Hebrews 
had  been  driven  in  from  the  surrounding* 
country.  The  spectacle  of  their  poverty 
and  squalor  was  something  too  sickening 
for  words.  The  whole  place,  with  its 
filthy  streets,  its  reeking  half-cellars  under 
the  overhanging  balconies,  and  its  swarm¬ 
ing  throngs  of  unwashed,  unkempt  wretches, 
packed  into  the  narrow  thoroughfares  on 
the  lookout  for  food,  made  a  picture 
scarcely  human.  Mr.  Pennell  tells  me 
that  when  he  was  there  in  November  he 
was  assured  that,  instead  of  the  sixty  thou¬ 
sand  Jews  of  August,  there  were  then  in 
Berditchev  no  less  than  ninety  thousand 

There  are  over  a  hundred  towns  in 
that  hell  called  the  Pale  where  the  same 
causes  operate  which  have  made  Berdit¬ 
chev  such  an  unspeakable  charnel-house, 
and  in  each  one  the  Russian  police  have 
done  their  brutal  best  to  reproduce  the 
conditions  of  Berditchev.”125 

What  are  the  poor  creatures  to  do  ? 
Harried  and  harassed,  they  are  veritable 


184  Old  European  Jewries. 

pariahs  and  outcasts.  The  Jews  in  the 
cities  and  towns  of  the  Pale  are  poor 
enough,  and  to  have  the  number  trebled 
and  quadrupled  means  lack  of  sustenance 
for  all.  Even  the  privileged  classes,  those 
permitted  to  dwell  without  the  Pale,  are 
rapidly  decreasing.  How  soon,  by  confis¬ 
cation  and  systematic  robbery  on  the  part 
of  the  officials,  may  not  a  merchant  of  the 
first  guild  sink  into  the  second  ?  Then  off 
into  the  Pale,  no  matter  now  long  he  may 
have  dwelt  in  his  home  !  Artisans,  too, 
had  been  granted  permission  to  dwell  any¬ 
where.  But  what  constitutes  an  artisan  ? 
The  authorities  decide.  For  instance,  in 
one  province  it  was  decided  that  Jewish 
bakers,  butchers,  etc.,  are  not  artisans,  and 
they  have  been  driven  out.  The  word  is 
very  elastic,  particularly  since  the  law  limits 
it  by  the  adjective  “skilled,”126  and  so  the 
authorities  (for  in  Russia  every  official,  no 
matter  how  low  or  how  high  his  rank, 
considers  himself  an  authority)  interpret 
the  term  as  they  please,  and  the  Jews  are 
completely  at  the  mercy  of  every  official, 
from  the  ordinary  policeman  up  to  the 


The  Russian  Ghetto.  1 8  s 

governor  of  the  province.  Jews  with 
university  diplomas  are  among  the  privi¬ 
leged  classes,  permitted  to  reside  any¬ 
where,  but  the  government  has  taken  care 
to  limit  those  entitled  to  enjoy  choice  of 
residence,  by  passing  laws  providing  that 
only  a  very  small  percentage  of  students 
maybe  Jews.127  Restrictions  everywhere  ! 
Prohibitions  on  all  sides  !  Gradually  and 
surely  the  Jews  are  forced  into  the  cities 
of  the  Pale.  The  Russian  Ghetto  !  oh, 
the  misery,  the  horror  of  it  -all  !  Stories 
innumerable  of  crueltv  almost  incredible 

have  come  to  us — of  soldiers  who  had 

* 

served  in  the  army  for  years  coming  back  to 
their  native  place,  being  treated  as  stran¬ 
gers,  and  driven  out ; I2S  of  artisans,  resi¬ 
dents  of  villages  all  their  lives,  going  for 
a  week  or  a  month  to  some  other  place 
for  work,  and  on  their  return  beinof  treated 
as  newcomers,  their  former  residence  R- 
nored  ;  of  Jewish  girls,  who,  to  remain 
with  their  parents,  had  themselves  enrolled 
as  prostitutes  (this  class  of  women  being 
permitted  to  dwell  anywhere  in  Russia), 
and  because  they  would  not  ply  the 


1 86  Old  European  yezvries. 

nefarious  trade,  were  driven  out.  And 
then  the  terrible  results  in  the  cities  of  the 
Pale  !  The  crowding  of  thousands  of 
homeless,  suffering,  destitute  jews  into 
the  already  swarming,  dirty,  ill-built,  half- 
starving  towns,  deepened  the  prevailing 
misery.  Sickness  and  disease  ran  riot. 
Phthisis,  which  had  been  practically  un¬ 
known  among  Jews,  led  to  the  rejection 
of  6.5  per  cent  of  Jewish  recruits  as 
against  0,5  per  cent  of  other  Russians. 
Other  maladies  hitherto  unknown  arose 
among  them.129  Another  source  of  misery 
was  the  re-enforcement  of  an  old  law 

m 

permitted  to  fall  into  neglect.  This 
law,  first  suggested  in  1816, 130  had  ordered 
that  no  Jew  should  dwell  within  fifty  versts 
(thirty-three  miles)  of  the  frontier.  It 
became  a  dead  letter.  Hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  Jews  settled  within  this  district. 
The  old  law  has  been  revived,  and  is  being 
enforced.  So  the  people  who  have  dwelt 
for  years  within  the  forbidden  limits  are 
likewise  forced  back  into  the  Pale. 

Things  have  been  growing  worse  all  the 
time;  in  1891  they  reached  their  climax; 


The  R  zissiciii  Ghetto .  187 

new  edicts  of  expulsion  of  even  the  .privi¬ 
leged  classes,  permitted  to  dwell  in  the 
cities,  were  promulgated — edicts  upon 
edicts.  For  example,  in  Moscow,  on  July 
28th,  appeared  regulations  in  regard  to  the 
artisans,  who  were  divided  into  three 
classes  :  (1)  those  living  in  Moscow  only 
three  years,  unmarried  or  childless,  and 
employing  only  one  workman  ;  (2)  those 
of  six  years  residence,  with  four  children  and 
four  workmen  ;  (3)  those  having  “a  very 
long  residence”  and  a  “large  family,”  and 
more  than  four  workmen.  For  these  ex¬ 
pulsion  was  decreed,  for  the  first  class, 
within  from  three  to  six  months  ;  for  the 
second,  within  from  six  to  nine  months  ; 
for  the  third,  within  from  nine  to  twelve 
months.  To  this  was  attached  a  rider  to 
the  effect  that  (a)  all  clerks, personal  attend¬ 
ants  and  those  of  small  occupations  must 
go  within  six  months  ;  (5)  all  engaged  in 
trade,  especially  in  large  factories  owned 
by  Russians,  must  go  within  one  year.131 
This  in  Moscow;  St.  Petersburg,  “holy” 
Kiev, even  Odessa, although  within  the  Pale, 
have  like  stories  to  tell.  The  I ews  must  0-0. 


1 88  Old  European  Jewries . 

By  law  or  by  arbitrary  decree,  Russia  out¬ 
side  the  Pale  must  be  cleansed  of  them,  and 
it  is  being  gradually  done.  Imagination 
cannot  picture  the  unfeeling  cruelty  of  it  all. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  innocent,  unof¬ 
fending  citizens  deprived  of  their  homes 
and  possessions,  and  forced  into  new, 
strange  dwelling  places,  unable  to  support 
their  own  teeming  populations  !  It  means 
nothing  short  of  expulsion  or  death.  The 
number  of  jews  dwelling  within  the  Rus¬ 
sian  Ghetto,  or  Pale,  in  1884,  was  esti- 
mated  at  2,920,639.  A  rough  calculation 
has  been  made  of  the  Jews  who  by  the 
new  edicts  and  restrictions  have  been  and 
will  be  expelled  from  their  homes  and 
forced  into  the  cities  of  the  Pale  :132 

Expulsion  from  villages  inside  the  Pale 

is  estimated  to  affect .  500.000 

Expulsion  of  artisans  outside  the  Pale,  200,000 
Expulsion  from  commercial  towns  out¬ 
side  the  Pale,  .  500,000 

Expulsion  from  the  fifty-verst  zone,  .  .  250,000 

1,450,000 

Adel  these  to  the  swarming  populations 
residing  in  the  cities  of  the  Pale,  and  it 
will  be  readily  understood  that  never  has 


The  Russian  Ghetto.  189 

there  been,  even  in  the  darkest  days,  a 
Ghetto  with  accompanying  circumstances 
more  dreadful  than  this,  existing  in  sight  of 
the  enlightened  world  of  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  ninety-four  of  Christian  civili¬ 
zation.  The  Middle  Ages,  with  all  their 
fanaticism  and  intolerance,  have  nothing 
to  show  surpassing  it  in  systematic 
cruelty.  Mediaeval  church  laws  at  least 
pretend  to  give  a  reason  for  separating 
the  dwelling  places  of  Jews  from  those  of 
Christians ;  it  was  feared  that  the  latter 
would  be  contaminated  by  contact  with 
the  former.  In  the  autocracy  of  Eastern 
Europe  there  is  not  even  the  pretense  of 
a  reason  or  excuse.  The  laws  are  made; 
it  is  the  tyrant’s  will — that  is  the  end  of 
the  matter.  Possibly  the  same  idea  holds, 
that  holy  Russia  may  be  contaminated  by 
the  presence  of  Jews.  Considering  the 
Jews  a  pest,  the  Russian  rulers  enclose 
them  in  the  Ghetto  as  in  a  lazaretto. 

“  These  laws  regulating  the  dwelling- 
place  of  the  Jews  present  the  most  shock¬ 
ing  anomalies.  They  put  the  Jews  below 
the  crimin-als  to  whom  certain  cities,  nota- 


190 


Old  European  Jewries. 


bly  the  capitals,  are  forbidden  only  for  a 
specified  period  after  the  expiration  of  their 
sentence.  *  *  *  *  According  to  the 

letter  of  the  law,  the  greatest  sculptor  of 
Russia,  Antokolsky,  correspondent  of  our 
Institute,  has  not  the  right  to  live  in  St. 
Petersburg. 

Do  the  Jews  enjoy  the  same  rights  as 
the  other  subjects  of  the  Tzar,  at  least  in 
the  mentioned  district  (the  Pale),  in  which 
they  are  confined  ?  By  no  means.  They 
are  deprived  of  several  all-important 
rights.  They  are  forbidden  to  acquire 
land  in  the  provinces  in  which  they  are 
forced  to  live.  They  are  forbidden  even 
to  lease  land  outside  of  the  cities.  They 
cannot  be  farmers.”133 

It  is  the  same  old  story  over  again  : 
Jews  forced  into  the  cities,  forbidden  to 
own  land,  and  then  reproached  for  not 
being  farmers.  For  eighteen  hundred 
years  the  present  Russian  policy  was  the 
policy  of  all  European  states  ;  the  Jews 
could  not  be  farmers  had  they  wanted  to. 
The  Jews  of  Russia  are  to-day  in  the 
same  situation  as  the  Jews  of  Europe  gen- 


The  Russian  Ghetto .  19 1 

erally  before  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
They  know  not  where  to  lay  their  head. 
Certainly,  the  prospect  of  emigration  is 
theirs,  but  the  emigration  is  forced  ;  they 
are  literally  driven  out,  for  to  go  into  the 
Ghetto  set  apart  for  them  is  well-nigh 
synonymous  with  stepping  into  a  death 
trap ;  disease,  hunger,  starvation  await 
them  there.  Rich  men  beggared  in  a 
month,  honorable  men  chased  from  their 
homes  like  criminals,  ambitious  students 
driven  from  the  universities  to  go  they 
know  not  whither,  unless  to  the  Ghetto  or 
to  strange  lands — these  are  the  sad  experi¬ 
ences  that  hundreds  and  thousands  of  Rus¬ 
sian  Jews  have  lived  through  in  the  past 
ten  years.  And  within  that  Pale  of  Settle¬ 
ment,  what  a  terrifying  future  presents  it¬ 
self  !  Five,  eight,  ten  persons  struggling 
for  a  livelihood  where  one  can  scarcely 
find  sufficient  sustenance.  Degeneracy, 
physical,  mental,  moral.  Millions  sub¬ 
jected  to  the  very  worst  conditions  of  life. 
Bad  enough  before  the  enforcement  of  the 
May  laws,  infinitely  worse  now;  the  over¬ 
crowded  towns  are  breeders  of  disease 


192  Old  European  Jewries . 

and  contagion.  The  evils  and  hor¬ 
rors  of  the  Ghetto  have  re-appeared  in 
their  worst  form.  The  future  is  all 
dark,  not  one  streak  of  light  to  relieve 
the  gloom — no  hope  of  improvement  ! 
The  miserable,  embittered  existence  of 
these  poor  creatures  has  no  prospect  of 
betterment.  Death  alone  will  make  them 
free.  It  is  like  an  oppressive  nightmare. 
But  retribution  will  come.  Into  Darkest 
Russia,  too,  the  light  must  penetrate. 
“  He  sleeps  not,  neither  does  He  slumber, 
the  guardian  of  Israel.”  The  Russian 
Ghetto  will  be  swept  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  as  in  their  time  all  Ghettos  have  dis¬ 
appeared.  The  wide  expanse  of  the 
Russian  empire,  too,  will  be  opened  to  the 
Jew,  and  the  frightful  conditions  of  to-day 
will  pass  away.  Right  is  might,  and  with 
such  a  champion,  the  poor,  harried,  perse¬ 
cuted  Russian  Jew  will  conquer,  though 
all  the  powers  of  darkness  be  arrayed  in 
the  lists  against  him  to-day.  The  abo¬ 
lition  of  the  Ghetto,  the  Pale  of  Settle¬ 
ment,  the  full  right  of  the  Jew  to  live  and 
settle  in  Russia  where  it  pleases  him,  is 


The  Russian  Ghetto. 


193 

the  only  solution  of  the  Russo- Jewish 

*  V 

problem.  134 


*3 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


EFFECTS  AND  RESULTS. 

The  enforced  seclusion  of  a  people  dur¬ 
ing  centuries,  as  told  in  the  foregoing 
chapters,  cannot  but  produce  characteristic 
results.  That  Jews  in  many  places  and  in¬ 
stances,  still  show  the  effects  of  the 
Ghetto  period,  cannot  be  doubted.  It  is 
not  yet  half  a  century  since  they  have 
gained  full  political  and  social  emancipa¬ 
tion  in  Western  Europe.  The  habits 
formed  during  centuries  cannot  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  wear  off  in  a  few  decades.  The 
unpleasant  traits  of  the  Jews  are  due  to 
the  persecutions  ;  their  virtues  are  the  re¬ 
sultant  of  the  strong  hold  of  their  religion 
upon  them. 

Who  will  wonder  at  the  evil  effects 
which  exclusion  had  on  the  development 
of  the  Jew,  physically  and  mentally  ?  Pen 
up  a  mass  of  people  for  centuries  in  nar¬ 
row,  unhealthy  streets  and  noisome  quar= 

( 194) 


E ffects  and  R e suits.  1 9  5 

ters,  and  what  results  may  be  expected  ? 
Owing  to  the  unhealthiness  of  the  Jew’s 

environment,  he  could  not  develop  physi¬ 
cally,  and  thus  became  stunted  in  body. 
Owing  to  his  enforced  occupations,  small 
peddling  and  money  transactions,  he  grad¬ 
ually  in  his  relations  to  the  outer  world,  be¬ 
came  a  fearful,  terrified,  stricken  creature, 
and  these  things  naturally  reacted  on  the 
mind.  Shut  off  from  all  contact  with  the 
world  at  large,  the  Jew  within  the  walls  of 
the  Ghetto  naturally  did  not  respond  to 
the  culture  of  the  world.  Learning,  cer¬ 
tainly,  there  always  was,  and  learning  was 
held  in  the  highest  respect  ;  but  it  was 
the  learning  of  the  ancients,  the  Talmud 
and  rabbinical  dialectics.  These  studies 
sharpened  the  mind,  it  is  true,  and  later, 
when  emancipation  came,  the  Jewish  in¬ 
tellect,  exercised  for  centuries  in  this 
dialectical  training  school,  readily  mas¬ 
tered  the  difficulties  of  the  various 
branches  of  learning  in  the  universities. 
But  in  the  Ghetto,  notably  in  Germany 
and  the  countries  of  Eastern  Europe, 

'  this  terrible,  systematic  exclusion  of  the 


196  Old  European  Jewries. 

Jews  from  all  contact  with  the  outer  world 
contracted  the  mind,  and  prevented  all  culti¬ 
vation  of  learning  outside  of  J  ewish  studies. 

The  wonder  is  that  in  spite  of  the  moun¬ 
tain-load  of  disadvantages,  disabilities,  and 
wrongs,  the  jew  preserved  himself  as  well 
as  he  did.  For  evil  as  were  the  effects, 
physical  and  mental,  little  as  the  Jews  pro¬ 
duced  of  works  of  general  literature,  phil¬ 
osophy,  and  science  between  the  fifteenth 
and  the  eighteenth  centuries,  yet  the 
moral  side  of  Jewish  life,  as  reflected  in 
the  beauty  of  the  home,  in  the  charity, 
purity,  and  chastity  of  the  community  and 
of  the  individual,  even  the  systematic  cag¬ 
ing  in  the  Ghetto  by  church  and  state  did 
not  affect  for  the  worse.  This  moral  purity 
was  not  sullied,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  disad¬ 
vantages  of  situation,  the  virtues  that 
crown  the  life  of  man  with  man  here  found 
•  constant  cultivation  and  application.  The 
Ghetto  possibly  brought  these  things  out 
in  stronger  relief.  Family  ties  were 
strengthened,  domestic  purity  shone  the 
brighter,  because  only  in  the  home  and 
in  the  family  the  Jew  was  a  free  man.  The  - 


i97 


Effects  and  Results . 

hand  of  power  that  rested  with  such  crush¬ 
ing  weight  upon  him  without  could  not 
penetrate  within.  Here  he  was  king. 
The  glory  of  his  ancestors,  the  pride 
of  race,  possessed  him.  God  was  with 
him,  of  that  he  was  sure  ;  his  troubles 
would  come  to  an  end  at  some  time.  This 
light  not  all  the  waves  of  oppression  could 
extinguish.  In  the  Ghetto,  too,  it  shone. 
Herein  lay  the  salvation  of  the  Jew.  His 
inner  life  appeared  all  the  more  brilliant 
when  contrasted  with  the  darkness  of  his 
external  position.  The  Jew  saved  himself 
by  force  of  those  virtues  which  will  redeem 
man  from  any  condition,  even  though  it 
be  as  untoward  and  foreboding  as  the 
prison-like  confinement  of  the  Jews  for 
centuries  within  the  walls  and  gates  of  the 
Ghetto. 

The  Ghetto  gave  rise  to  social  habits 
and  customs  peculiar  to  its  inhabitants. 
Shut  off,  as  they  were,  from  communication 
with  the  remainder  of  the  community, 
thrown  entirely  upon  their  own  resources, 
and  associating  only  with  each  other,  they 
developed  among  themselves  that  peculiar 


198  Old  European  Jewries. 

Ghetto  life,  which,  in  our  day,  has  received 
such  masterly  portrayal  at  the  hands  of 
Kompert,  Bernstein,  Franzos,  Kohn,  and 
others,  to  whom  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
refer  again.  Perhaps  the  most  striking 
product  of  the  Ghetto  was  the  language 
there  spoken.  In  early  days,  the  language 
which  Jews  spoke  differed  in  nowise 
from  that  of  their  neighbors,  but  in  time 
there  was  formed  the  peculiar  speech 
of  the  Ghetto,  the  Jiidisch-deutsch,  a  jar¬ 
gon.  This  language  was  a  mixture  of 
Hebrew  and  German  terms  in  various 
peculiar  combinations,  with  a  liberal  sprink¬ 
ling  of  words  of  other  European  languages, 
as  e.  g.,  blett ,  a  ticket  entitling  the  holder 
to  a  meal,  the  French  billet;  bens  hen,  to 
bless,  the  Latin  benedire  ;  frimselich ,  a  kind 
of  pastry,  the  Italian  vermicelli ;  all  show¬ 
ing  traces  of  the  days  when  the  J  ews  spoke 
these  languages.  A  treatise  on  this 
strange  linguistic  development  remains 
to  be  written,135  although  some  good  work 
has  been  done  by  several  scholars,  the 
beginning  having  been  made  by  Alt- 
meister  Z unz,  who  in  his  epoch-making 


l99 


Effects  and  Results. 

work,  Die  gottesdienstlichen  V outrage  der 
Juden,  devotes  several  pages136  to  a  discus¬ 
sion  of  the  “jargon,”  and  gives  the  rules 
that  seem  to  have  been  employed  in  the 
formation  of  terms,  as  well  as  a  list  of 
words  and  phrases.  The  “jargon”  is  a 
product  of  the  past  ;  with  the  fall  of  the 
walls  of  the  Ghetto,  it  disappeared,  like  so 
many  of  the  alleged  peculiarities  to  which 
the  oppression  of  centuries  gave  rise  among 
Jews. 

But  certain  effects  of  Ghetto  existence 
upon  the  J  ew  are  apparent  even  to-day.  A 
recent  writer  has  well  said:  “  People  who 
have  been  living  in  a  Ghetto  for  a  couple 
of  centuries  are  not  able  to  step  outside 
merely  because  the  gates  are  thrown  down, 
nor  to  efface  the  brands  on  their  souls  by 
putting  off  the  yellow  badges.  The  isola¬ 
tion  from  without  will  have  come  to  seem 
the  law  of  their  being.”137  Even  in  this  free 
country  of  ours,  where  a  Ghetto  has  never 
been  established  by  religious  canon  or  civil 
law,  the  effects  of  Ghetto  life  in  Europe 
crop  out  very  perceptibly.  In  our  larger 
cities,  Jewish  quarters  are  being  formed, 


200 


Old  European  Jewries . 

which,  though  not  defined  by  law,  nor  en¬ 
closed  by  walls,  nor  barred  by  gates,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  are  no  less  Ghettos 
than  those  of  mediaeval  days.  The  poorer 
Jews  who  come  to  this  country  naturally 
flock  together,  and  inhabit  whole  districts 
which  come  to  assume  the  appearance  of 
Ghettos.  So  it  is  also  in  London,  Amster¬ 
dam,  Paris,  Vienna,  and  other  large  cities  of 
Europe.  The  Ghetto  in  law  has  ceased  to 
be;  the  Ghetto  in  fact  still  exists.  Now, 
this  esprit  de  corps ,  this  exclusiveness,  this 
seeking  of  brethren,  is  a  direct  result  of 
the  treatment  to  which  Jews  have  been 
subjected  during  the  Christian  centuries. 
And  not  alone  the  masses  of  poor,  wretched 
creatures  that  live  in  the  lowly  quar¬ 
ters  of  the  great  cities  of  the  world,  but 
even  those  Jews  who  have  reaped  all  the 
benefits  of  emancipation,  and  move  in  the 
higher  circles  of  life  and  thought,  are  often 
met  with  the  reproach  that  they  are  clan¬ 
nish  and  exclusive,  that  they  shut  them¬ 
selves  up  within  their  own  social  precincts, 
and  are  attracted  to  one  another  by  a 
magnetism  of  fellowship.  Very  true,  and 


201 


Effects  and  Results. 

very  natural  ;  so  long  were  the  Jews  ex¬ 
cluded  by  legal  measure  and  enactment 
and  religious  prejudice  and  teaching  from 
all  intimate  contact  with  non-Jews,  so  long 
were  they  thrown  upon  one  another,  that  as 
a  logical  result,  they  became  exclusive. 
People  maltreated  and  oppressed  for  the 
same  reason  cling  to  one  another.  Suffer¬ 
ing  in  a  like  cause  attaches  them  very  close 
to  each  other,  for  there  is  no  bond  that 
unites  so  firmly  as  suffering.  The  Jew 
was  excluded,  therefore  he  became  exclu¬ 
sive  ;  he  was  avoided,  therefore  he  be¬ 
came  clannish  ;  the  hand  of  the  world  was 
against  him,  therefore  he  sought  protection 
amongst  his  own.  Even  though  offi¬ 
cial  exclusion  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  the 
prejudices  of  men  and  churches  cannot  be 
abolished  by  law  and  decree,  and  largely 
these  still  exist  against  the  Jew.  Pie  has 
met  his  fellow-man  more  than  half  way. 
The  most  liberal  expressions  emanate 
from  the  Jewish  pulpit  and  the  pens  of 
Jewish  authors,138  but  rarely  are  they  recip¬ 
rocated.  The  great  consensus  of  opinion 
in  the  Christian  world  still  considers  the 


202  Old  European  Jewries. 

Jew  as  lost,  and,  as  though  he  were 
heathen,  fit  subject  for  missionary  effort. 
As  long  as  this  is  the  state  of  the  case,  ex¬ 
pressed  or  implied,  the  Jews  are  forced  in 
upon  themselves.  As  long  as  this  arro¬ 
gant  assumption  of  superiority  marks  the 
attitude  of  Christianity,  so  long  can  there 
be  no  meeting  on  common  ground. 
Equality  pre-supposes  mutual  respect,  and 
the  attitude  of  the  churches  that  consider 
the  Jew  damned  for  all  eternity,  unless  he 
be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Christian 
Saviour,  although  not  expressed  in 
words,  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  mediaeval 
church,  which  ever  spoke  and  wrote  of  Ju¬ 
daism  as  superstition  and  perfidy.  Ad¬ 
vances  cannot  all  come  from  one  side.  If 
the  ill  effects  of  bygone  centuries  are  ever 
to  be  entirely  overcome,  the  Christian 
world  must  concede  full  and  equal  liberty 
to  Jews  to  think  and  believe  as  they  will, 
leaving  the  final  judgment  unto  Him  who 
looks  into  the  hearts  of  men. 

Another  time-honored  accusation  con¬ 
tinually  flung  at  Jews  is,  that  they  are 
merely  consumers,  and  not  producers ;  that 


203 


Effects  and  Results. 

they  are  to  be  found  in  commercial  pur¬ 
suits  only,  and  not  in  the  handicrafts  ;  that 
they  flock  to  the  cities  and  monopolize 
trade,  and  are  rarely,  if  ever,  found  tilling 
the  soil.  Superficial  observation  seems 
to  confirm  these  statements,  but  it  must 
be  emphatically  stated  that  the  Jews  them¬ 
selves  are  not  to  blame  ;  that  this  is  one 
of  the  effects  of  Ghetto  life,  Ghetto 
legislation,  and  Christian  treatment  of 
Jews.  More  than  a  century  ago,  Moses 
Mendelssohn,  in  response  to  the  same 
reproach,  pithily  said :  “  Our  hands  are 
bound,  and  we  are  blamed  for  not  using 
them.”  If  the  Jews  were  not  conspicuous 
in  trades  and  industrial  branches  at  the 
time  when  these  were  honorable  pursuits, 
it  was  not  their  fault,  but  that  of  the  gov¬ 
ernments  under  which  they  lived.  The 
limits  of  the  guilds  were  so  narrow  and 
circumscribed,  they  were  governed  by 
such  exclusive  laws,  that  no  Jew,  before 
the  time  of  general  emancipation,  could 
break  through  the  barriers.  When  the 

O 

note  of  freedom  and  emancipation 
sounded,  and  the  governments  began  to 


204  6W  European  Jewries. 

grant  the  Jews  rights  as  citizens,  and 
passed  decrees  favorable  to  their  entering 
the  trades,  then  the  Jews  themselves  put 
forth  efforts  in  this  direction. 

In  biblical  times  the  Jews  were  an  agri¬ 
cultural,  not  a  commercial  people.  The 
many  notices,  too,  in  the  Talmud  and  other 
Jewish  writings  on  the  honorable  character 
of  trades,  and  the  necessity  of  engaging 
in  them,  at  once  dispel  the  notion  that  the 
Jews  were  opposed  to  these  pursuits.  We 
need  only  refer  to  learned  men  specially 
mentioned  as  having  gained  their  liveli¬ 
hood  by  the  trades  of  the  collier,  shoe¬ 
maker,  carpenter,  smith.  But  when  the 
J ews  were  scattered  over  Europe’s  wide  do¬ 
main,  all  changed  from  what  it  had  been  in 
Palestine  and  Babylonia.  They  lived  now 
under  Christian  governments,  which,  in 
conjunction  with  the  priesthood,  did  all 
in  their  power,  if  not  to  exterminate,  for 
that  was  impossible,  at  least,  to  hamper 
and  degrade  the  Jews.  They  were  com¬ 
pelled  to  resort  to  those  means  by  which 
they  could  gain  some  hold  of  power.  This 
their  money  gave  them.  Hence  their  pre- 


205 


Effects  and  Results. 

eminence  in  commerce  and  in  money  trans¬ 
actions.  They  cultivated  these  activities. 
Gold  and  silver  satisfied  the  rapacity  of 
their  oppressors,  and  gained  them  respite 
from  suffering.  All  the  energies  of  the 
acute  Jewish  mind  being  turned  to  com¬ 
merce,  they  brought  it  to  a  high  state  of 
perfection,  invented  bills  of  exchange, 
became  the  bankers  and  the  merchants 
of  mediaeval  Europe.  There  was  ample 
reason,  then,  for  their  not  engaging  in  the 
trades.  Self-preservation  forced  them 
into  commercial  life.  It  must  also  be 
remembered  that  there  was  a  period 
when  the  trades  and  handicrafts  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  lowest  classes,  being 
pursued  by  either  slaves,  or  women,  or  by 
the  free  classes  ineligible  to  a  military 
career.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising 
that  Jews,  severely  oppressed  because 
of  their  religion,  did  not  wish  to  debase 
themselves  further  by  engaging  in  occu¬ 
pations  in  themselves  considered  degrad- 
ing. 

When  the  trades  rose  in  general  esti¬ 
mation,  we  find  Jews  mentioned  here  and 


206  Old  European  Jewries . 

/ 

there  as  farmers,  as  growers  of  the  vine, 
as  mechanics.  But  gradually  these  trades 
and  industries  enclosed  themselves  within 
narrow  confines,  and  against  attempts 
of  governments  to  open  the  trades 
to  Jews,  it  was  urged  that  if  they 
were  admitted,  their  competition  would 
soon  work  to  the  detriment  of  Chris¬ 
tian  workmen.  Always  the  same  clamor  : 
the  Jews  place  others  at  a  disadvantage, 
therefore,  they  must  be  kept  down  and 
out,  and,  if  this  be  possible  by  no  other 
means,  force  must  be  employed.  Per¬ 
haps  this  has  never  been  better  stated  than 
by  Gabriel  Riesser,  the  redoubtable  cham¬ 
pion  of  J ewish  emancipation  :  “  Commerce 
requires  many  and  distant — trades,  few  and 
close,  connections.  As  long  as  the  hatred 
of  the  Christian  prevented  a  close  rela¬ 
tion  to  Jews,  they  could  be  associated  in 
commerce,  but  not  in  the  trades.  This 
circumstance  sufficiently  explains,  without 
Sabbath  or  Talmud,  why  Jews,  until  the 
last  century,  could  engage  so  little  in 
handicrafts.” 


207 


Effects  and  Re  stilts. 

It  was  the  oft  repeated  cry  :  contact  with 
the  accursed  Jews  may  lead  to  terrible  con¬ 
sequences.  Out  with  them !  out  with 
them  !  cried  the  workman.  The  Greater 

o 

the  number  of  competitors,  the  more  diffi¬ 
cult  for  each  to  £ain  his  livelihood. 
Lower,  lower  press  them  down,  away  from 
all  association  with  their  fellows  of  other 
faiths  !  Every  honorable  occupation  was 
closed  to  them.  The  power  of  the  trade 
guildswas  great,  they  resented  all  attempts 
of  orovernments  to  interfere  in  their  affairs. 

O 

Whithersoever  the  Jew  turned,  he  was 
conscious  of  lofty  though  invisible  walls. 
Each  century  but  added  to  the  burden 
of  the  preceding  century.  The  load 
was  becoming  heavier  and  heavier.  Oft 
in  anguish  of  soul  the  Jews  cried  aloud, 
for  it  seemed  impossible  to  bear  with  such 
indignities  any  longer.  .  Money  transac¬ 
tions,  or  worse,  peddling  and  hawking, 
were  the  only  avenues  open  for  earning 
a  livelihood.  The  Schacherjude  was  a 
creature  evolved  by  circumstances  and 
the  systematic  course  resorted  to  by  his 
enemies  to  degrade  the  Jew.  The 


2o8  Old  European  Jewries. 

only  countries  wherein  Jews  could  and 
did  engage  in  the  trades  were  those 
in  which  they  dwelt  in  sufficiently  large 
numbers  (as  the  different  provinces  of 
Poland),  so  that  there  was  no  need  of 
others  to  assist  them  and  associate  with 
them. 

But  the  time  of  reckoning  was  com¬ 
ing.  The  recording  angel  had  almost 
done  with  the  tale  of  governmental  exclu¬ 
sion  and  persecution  of  Jews.  The 
measure  was  full.  The  time  was  ripe. 
Mankind  was  awakening  from  the  stupor 
of  ages.  Humanity  was  to  assert  its 
rights.  The  eighteenth  century  stands  as 
the  dividing  line  between  the  old  and  the 
new.  Aye,  the  eighteenth  century  !  Bles¬ 
sed  time,  when  humanity  spoke,  and  advo¬ 
cated  the  claims  of  all  the  children  of  men; 
when  the  false  and  rank  growths  of 
mediaevalism  fell  before  the  purifying 
influence  of  awakened  reason,  even  like 
a  crumbling  ruin  swept  by  the  storm. 
The  American  Revolution  “fired  the  shot 
heard  round  the  world,”  and  the  old, 
corrupt  society  of  Europe  was  shaken 


Effects  and  Results.  209 

to  its  depths  by  the  reverberation. 
France,  all  combustible,  needed  but  the 
spark  ;  it  fell,  and  the  French  Revolution, 
an  explosion  of  the  magazines  wherein 
had  accumulated  the  rubbish  of  centuries, 
moved  Europe  from  end  to  end.  The 
new  time  was  inaugurated.  Mankind  was 
freed.  Humanity  ruled.  Governments 
listened.  The  abuses  of  ages  were  laid  bare. 
Unto  the  Jew,  also,  the  most  wronged 
of  Europe’s  inhabitants,  the  new  era 
brought  its  glad  tidings.  Kings  and  rulers 
turned  their  attention  to  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  lot  of  their  Jewish  subjects. 
The  avenueswhich  had  been  closed  to  them 
were  gradually  opened.  Within  sixty  years 
after  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  the  Jew  was  a  free  man  in  Western 
Europe.  France,  leader  in  humane 

acts  and  liberal  thoughts,  was  followed 
by  German  princes,  by  Italy,  by  Eng¬ 
land.  The  walls  of  the  Ghetto  had 
fallen  ;  the  world  was  open  to  the  Jew, 
and  among  the  earliest  privileges  was 
the  right  to  engage  in  trades  and  in¬ 
dustries.  It  is  remarkable  with  what 

14 


210  Old  European  Jewries. 

eagerness  this  permission  was  seized.  U  n- 
doubtedly  their  leaders  felt  that  it  was  nec¬ 
essary  to  remove  the  byword  of  peddler, 
money-lender,  from  the  Jews,  and  to  make 
them  more  readily  affiliate  with  their  Chris¬ 
tian  neighbors.  Societies  were  started  in 
the  early  decades  of  this  century  for  the 
purpose  of  furthering  trades  among  the 
Jews  in  Prussia,  Frankfort, Bavaria,  Baden, 
Saxony,  Pomerania,  Hessen,  Hamburg, 
the  Saxon  duchies.  Jewish  boys  were 
apprenticed.  Industrial  schools  were  insti¬ 
tuted.  Ere  long  there  were  Jewish 
master  mechanics  all  through  Germany. 
They  followed  trades  of  every  kind  and 
description.  They  became  shoemakers, 
tailors,  saddlers,  bookbinders,  locksmiths, 
bakers,  weavers,  printers,  cutlers,  watch¬ 
makers,  furriers,  lithographers,  and  the 
like.  Land,  too,  was  beginning  to  be 
bought,  and  here  and  there  Jewish  farmers 
were  heard  of.  Factories  were  started  by 
J  ews,  who  employed  workmen  of  all 
classes,  both  of  their  own  faith  and  others. 
They  assisted  the  governments  wherever 
the  slightest  hope  was  given  that  their  dis- 


2  I  I 


Effects  and  Results . 

abilities  would  be  removed.  The  Jews 
themselves  entered  upon  the  work  with  a 
will,  and  it  is  most  encouraging  to  re¬ 
flect  upon  their  early  efforts  to  improve  the 
new  opportunities  granted  by  the  govern¬ 
ments.  The  inner  development  was  such 
that  within  seventy  years  after  Mendels¬ 
sohn’s  death,  his  co-religionists  enjoyed  all 
the  rights  of  men  and  citizens  in  the  land 
where  he,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  philosophers  and  scholars,  was  regarded 
as  an  alien. 

In  1848  most  of  the  disabilities  resting 
upon  Jews  were  removed  in  the  countries  of 
western  Europe.  How  has  it  been  since, 
there  and  in  America?  We  still  hear  of 
the  enormous  wealth  of  the  Jews.  We 
are  told  that  if  one  walks  down  Broadway 
in  New  York,  the  great  majority  of  the 
firms  are  Jewish.  The  Jewish  commercial 
spirit  still  forms  the  refrain  of  many  a 
prejudice.  Whenever  anti-Semitism  has 
raised  its  head  in  late  years,  this  has  been 
one  of  its  cries.  The  Jew  lives  off  of  the 
poor  Christian  workman.  The  Christian 
must  toil;  the  Jew  enjoys.  The  Chris- 


2  i  2  Old  European  Jewries. 

tian  is  poor;  the  Jew  is  rich.  The  Jew 
works  not  with  his  hands  at  honest  toil ; 
he  cannot  be  found  in  the  factories,  he 
cannot  be  found  in  the  fields,  farming  and 
gardening  ;  only  in  the  street,  buying  and 
selling.  Such  invidious  distinctions  are 
still  drawn,  although  careful  observation 
must  prove  that  there  is  no  truth  in  them. 
The  ideas  of  medievalism  have  not  been 
banished  from  the  popular  mind.  The 
Jew  is  still  looked  upon  as  standing  apart. 
The  conception  has  not  yet  gained  ground 
that  the  only  distinction  is  one  of  religion. 
Th  is  truth  the  Jews  must  emphasize  in 
word  and  in  work.  And  in  no  better  way 
can  it  be  emphasized  and  fully  proved  than 
by  his  standing  at  the  same  forge,  or  sit¬ 
ting  on  the  same  bench  with  others. 
Trades  and  industries  will  bring  close  con¬ 
nections. 

It  is  now  felt  that  one  solution  of  the 
problem  thrust  upon  the  Jews  of  Western 
Europe  and  America  by  the  immigration 
of  hordes  of  Russian  exiles  is  to  form 
them  into  agricultural  communities.  This 
will  require  time,  money  and  patience. 


213 


Effects  and  Results. 

The  Russian  Jews  are  issuing  from  a 
condition  like  unto  that  in  which  the 
Jews  generally  found  themselves  through¬ 
out  Europe  in  the  Ghetto  period.  They, 
too,  must  become  accustomed  to  their 
new  life.  What  they  are  is  owing  not 
to  themselves,  but  to  their  government. 
The  taste  for  new  occupations  must  be 
fostered  ;  many  a  drawback  and  obstacle 
will  be  encountered,  but  perseverance 
and  time  will  gain  the  victory.  The  Jews 
must  be  their  own  redeemers,  and  they 
alone  can  and  will  overcome  the  effect  of 
the  exclusiveness  of  the  Ghetto  period, 
which,  by  closing  every  other  occupa¬ 
tion  to  them,  forced  them  into  the  lines  of 
money-changing,  peddling,  and  hawking. 
The  injustice  of  popular  condemnation 
has  never  stood  forth  so  clearly  as  in  this 
instance  of  reproaching  the  Jews  for  that 
wherein  they  fail,  their  failure  being  due 
not  to  their  own  shortcomings,  but  to 
the  treatment,  or  rather  maltreatment, 
which  they  have  received. 

The  remarkable  progress  made  by  in¬ 
dividual  Jews  in  the  universities  of  Europe 


214  Old  European  Jewries . 

and  in  the  learned  professions,  as  soon  as 
these  were  thrown  open  to  them,  has  often 
been  the  subject  of  remark  and  surprise, 
and  speeches  and  writings  of  anti-Semites 
are  full  of  warnings  to  the  effect  that  Jews, 
enjoying  even  now  more  than  their  due 
proportion  of  professorial  chairs,  and 
journalistic  and  professional  honors,  will 
eventually  monopolize  them.  It  is  true 
that  many  Jews  have  had  remarkable 
careers  in  the  learned  world.  The  moment 
the  opportunity  was  granted  them,  they 
grasped  it  with  avidity,  and  ere  long  they 
became  brilliant  students.  This,  too, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  was  a  result  of 
the  Ghetto  existence.  For  centuries  the 
J ewish  mind  had  been  confined  to  the  study 
of  the  Jewish  writings,  and  been  sharp¬ 
ened  in  the  fencing  school  of  rabbinical 
dialectics.  The  schools  outside  of  the 
Ghetto  were  closed  to  them.  The  classics 
and  the  sciences  were  unknown  worlds. 
As  soon  as  the  open  sesame  of  emancipation 
sounded,  and  the  doors  of  the  schools 
swung  back  to  admit  the  Jew,  he  entered 
a  new  domain.  His  mind  was  as  a  field 


Effects  and  Results.  2 1 5 

long  fallow  ;  it  had  been  gathering  strength 
,for  centuries.  The  learned  words  of  pro¬ 
fessors  and  of  books  fell  upon  this  new 
soil,  and  took  deep  root.  This,  together 
with  the  keenness  and  acumen  resulting 
from  the  discussions  in  the  Talmudical 
schools,  readily  explains  why  he  forged 
ahead  so  rapidly. 

His  striking  success  may  be  traced  to 
another  cause.  If  history  has  an  example 
of  the  “survival  of  the  fittest  ”  to  present, 
it  is  this  of  the  Jews.  To  have  survived  in 
spite  of  all  the  dangers  and  persecutions 
which  they  encountered,  is  evidence  suffi¬ 
cient  that  there  were  present  among  these 
people  the  moral  and  mental  qualities 
that  can  successfully  withstand  physical 
ill  and  harm.  The  fittest  of  the  sur¬ 
vivors,  hence  the  choicest  from  out  a 
choice  band,  selected  university  and 
professional  careers.  They  were  the  pro¬ 
ducts  of  the  endurance  of  centuries.  All 
these  things  combined  offer  full  explana¬ 
tion  of  a  seeming  anomaly. 

Hard  as  this  life  in  the  Ghetto  was,  un¬ 
bearable  as  it  became  at  times,  sad  as 


2 1 6  Old  European  Jewries. 

was  this  continued  exclusion,  yet  these 
very  evils  were  productive  of  virtues 
among  the  devoted  people.  To  survive 
despite  all  these  disadvantages,  the  Jews 
had  to  be  better  than  their  surroundings, 
had  to  live  on  a  higher  moral  plane. 
The  Ten  Commandments  were  ever  re¬ 
spected  and  observed  by  them.  The  crime 
of  murder  was  practically  unknown  even 
among  their  poorest  and  most  ignorant 
classes,  rampant  as  it  may  have  been 
among  others  in  the  same  circumstances. 
Chastity  among  their  women  was  univer¬ 
sal  ;  the  home  life  was  a  model ;  never 
was  heard  issuing  from  a  Jewish  home  the 
wail  of  the  wife  beaten  by  a  drunken  hus¬ 
band.  A  cheerful,  trustful  piety  that  il¬ 
luminated  the  most  squalid  existence,  and 
made  its  inhabitants  content  with  their 
lot,  was  characteristic  of  the  Ghetto.  It 
was  not  for  them  to  murmur  against  the 
decrees  of  God.  He  knew  best,  their  re¬ 
lease  would  come,  if  not  in  this  world, 
then  in  the  next.  And  these  same  quali¬ 
ties  mark  the  inhabitants  of  the  lowly, 
poverty-stricken  quarters  in  our  great  cities, 


Effects  and  Results .  2 1 7 

so  like  the  old  Ghetto  in  all  particulars 
save  that  residence  in  them  is  voluntary, 
not  compulsory. 

Upon  modern  Ghettos,  the  Jewish  quar¬ 
ters  in  the  large  cities  of  the  world,  I  have 
hardly  touched,  since  they  do  not  lie 
within  the  scope  of  these  investigations, 
but  I  must  briefly  refer  to  them  since  they 
are  another  direct  result  of  the  officially 
instituted  Ghetto  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  poverty-stricken  huddle  together  in 
these  districts,  because  here  they  find 
companionship  and  sympathy,  and  their 
social  instinct  is  satisfied.  But  at  least, 
they  are  not  forced  to  stay  there,  and  as 
soon  as  they  desire  they  can  remove  thence. 
If  such  a  thing  as  a  Jewish  question  in  any 
but  the  religious  signification  of  the  term 
can  be  spoken  of  in  this  country,  it  is  in 
reference  to  these  Jewish  quarters  in  New 
York  and  other  large  cities,  and  their  in¬ 
habitants.  How  to  break  these  up  and 
disperse  their  denizens  over  the  surface  of 
this  broad,  fair  land,  and  make  them  self- 
supporting,  self-respecting  citizens,  is  the 
great  problem  now  pressing  for  solution. 


2 1 8  Old  European  Jewries. 

There  are  not  more  than  several  hundred 
thousand  all  told,  crowded  together  in  three 
or  four  localities.  This  seems  to  be  a 
large  number,  but  scattered  among  the 
population  of  this  vast  land  it  is  but 
as  a  drop  in  the  ocean.  These  voluntary 
Ghettos  are  a  constant  menace,  for  they 
arouse  the  worst  passions  of  non-Jewish 
demagogues,  and  the  Jews  are  referred  to 
as  a  class,  and  discriminated  against  as  a 
separate  body.  The  Jewish  immigrant 
coming  from  the  Russian  Ghetto  naturally 
drifts  into  this  new  Ghetto,  and  continues 
in  the  old  life,  for  he  finds  much  the  same 
conditions.  These  last  visible  vestiges  of 
Ghetto  existence  must  be  wiped  out. 
They  are  fraught  with  menace.  Char¬ 
itable  and  philanthropic  effort  must  be 
directed  to  this  work.  Millions  are  spent 
yearly  to  relieve  the  poor  of  these  districts, 
but  there  will  be  no  permanent  relief  until 
these  Ghettos  shall  be  no  more,  until  these 
wretched  immigrants  will  be  taken  in  hand 
upon  their  arrival,  prevented  from  invading 
the  already  overcrowded  districts,  and 
sent  to  smaller  communities,  there  to  as- 


Effects  and  Results.  219 

similate  themselves  with  their  American 
surroundings;  those  already  dwelling  in 
these  sections  and  applying  for  relief  must 
be  taken  charge  of  by  our  charitable  agen¬ 
cies,  and  removed  into  more  wholesome 
quarters.  This  is  a  duty  that  devolves  upon 
all  who  seek  to  improve  the  economic  and 
social  condition  of  the  masses.  Systematic, 
intelligent,  united  effort  alone  will  be 
able  to  grapple  with  this  hydra-headed 
evil.  There  is  no  duty  more  imperative 
than  the  relief  of  the  congestion  of  the 
slums,  both  in  the  interest  of  their  inhab¬ 
itants  and  of  our  American  institutions. 
The  work  can  be  begun  none  too  soon. 
The  axe  of  improvement  can  be  applied 
to  the  cutting  down  of  the  tenements  none 
too  vigorously.  Every  day  of  delay  but 
aggravates  the  evil.  Away  with  these 
Ghettos,  too.  The  law  cannot  order  their 
removal  as  it  did  with  the  officially  insti¬ 
tuted  Ghetto.  Voluntary  effort  alone 
will  accomplish  it.  In  the  words  of  the 
old  prayer,  “may  we  see  it  done  quickly 
in  our  days.” 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  GHETTO  IN  LITERATURE. 

Although  the  actual,  enforced  Ghetto, 
with  the  one  exception  of  “the  Pale  of 
Settlement”  in  Russia,  has  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  Europe,  yet  the  Ghetto 
life  of  Jews  has  found  a  permanent 
place  in  literature,  inasmuch  as  during  this 
century  numerous  writers  have  arisen  who 
have  drawn  their  material  for  most  inter¬ 
esting  tales  and  character  sketches  from 
the  Ghetto.  The  life  there  was  unique. 
Certain  types  of  character  were  formed, 
and  the  development  of  personality  pro¬ 
ceeded  along  peculiar  lines,  so  that  this 
Jewish  life  became  the  legitimate  object 
of  treatment  by  poets  and  novelists.  And 
Jewish  life  and  Jewish  characteristics,  as 
developed  in  the  Ghetto,  are  the  only 
rightful  objects  of  treatment  in  fiction 
portraying  the  Jew  All  other  represen¬ 
tations  of  the  Jew  as  differing  from  other 

(  220  ) 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature . 


2  2  I 


men  in  aught  but  his  religion  are  misrep¬ 
resentations,  and  false  to  the  real  thought 
and  present  status  of  the  Jew,  who,  in 
everything  but  his  religion,  is  like  unto 
those  among  whom  he  dwells.139 

The  Ghetto  novel  is  unique.  It  trans¬ 
ports  us  into  a  life  so  different  from  our 
own  that  it  scarce  seems  possible  that  a 
comparatively  short  period  has  intervened 
between  our  day  and  the  time  wherein  the 
scenes  which  it  portrays  were  enacted. 
It  depicts  real  life  within  the  Ghetto,  and 
shows  that  existence  there  in  peaceful  times 
was  much  the  same  as  anywhere  else. 
There  are  tales  of  love  and  marriage ;  of 
success  and  failure ;  of  heroism  and  self- 
sacrifice.  There  are  descriptions  of  phases 
of  life  and  character  peculiar  to  the  Ghetto, 
written,  for  the  most  part,  by  men  whose 
youthful  years  were  passed  there,  and  who 
knew  from  experience  the  scenes  which 
they  depicted.  These  stories  are  the  swan 
song  of  the  Ghetto.  They  cast  the  gla¬ 
mour  of  poetry  over  it,  and  are  the  one 
fair  product  left  to  mankind  from  the  dark 
record  of  centuries. 


222  Old  European  ^Jewries. 

The  first  to  attempt  a  Ghetto  novel  was 
the  great  poet  HeinrichHeine  in  his  frag¬ 
ment,  Der  Rabbi  von  Bacharach ,  perhaps 
the  finest  of  his  prose  writings.  He  de¬ 
scribes  the  terrible  experience  of  a  rabbi 
of  Bacharach  and  his  wife  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  who,  during  the  celebration  of 
the  Seder ,  the  family  festival  on  the  eve 
of  the  Passover  feast,  noticed  the  corpse 
of  a  child  that  had  been  placed  beneath 
their  table.  Knowing  that  the  enemies  of 
the  Jews  had  done  this  to  trump  up  the 
old  accusation  that  the  Jews  use  Christian 
blood  on  the  Passover,  they  fled  in  terror 
of  what  would  take  place.  Of  this  oft 
repeated  lie,  Heine  says  :  “  Another  accu¬ 
sation  which  cost  the  Jews  much  blood 
and  fear  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  up 
to  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  was 
the  silly  story  reiterated  with  disgusting 
frequency  in  legends  and  chronicles,  that 
the  J  ews  stole  consecrated  wafers,  which 
they  pierced  with  knives  till  the  blood 
flowed,  and  that  they  killed  Christian 
children  on  their  Passover  in  order  to  use 
the  blood  at  their  evening  service.  The 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature .  223 

Jews,  thoroughly  hated  because  of  their 
faith,  their  wealth,  and  their  account 
books,  on  that  holiday  were  completely  in 
the  hands  of  their  enemies,  who  could  ac¬ 
complish  their  ruin  but  too  easily,  if  they 
spread  the  report  of  a  child-murder,  or 
succeeded  in  smuggling  a  child’s  bloody 
corpse  into  the  house  of  a  Jew,  and  fell 
upon  the  Jewish  family  at  night  during  the 
service.  Then  there  was  murder,  plunder, 
and  baptism,  and  great  miracles  occurred 
through  the  agency  of  the  dead  child, 
which  the  church  finally  even  canonized.” 
Heine  describes  the  Frankfort  Ghetto, 
to  which  the  rabbi  fled  from  the  wrath 
to  come.  The  oft-quoted  description 
of  Jewish  female  beauty  that  he  gives 
in  speaking  of  Sarah,  the  rabbi’s  wife,  is 
worth  repeating  :  “  Her  face  was  touch¬ 
ingly  beautiful,  even  as,  in  general,  the 
beauty  of  Jewesses  is  strangely  touching. 
The  consciousness  of  the  cieep  misery,  the 
bitter  disgrace,  and  the  evil  experiences 
under  which  their  relatives  and  friends 
live  spreads  over  their  lovely  features  a 
certain  expression  of  suffering  and  watch- 


224  Old  European  Jewries, 

ful  anxiety,  which  exercises  a  peculiar 
charm  upon  us.’5 

Turning  from  Heine’s  fragment,  we  find 
that  a  number  of  authors  have  presented 
these  genre  pictures  of  Ghetto  life  to  the 
reading  world.  Auerbach’s  novels,  Spinoza 
and  Dichter  und  Kaufmann,  although  con¬ 
cerned  with  Jewish  subjects,  can  scarcely 
be  included  in  this  branch  of  literature. 
The  versatile  Aaron  Bernstein,  a  scientist, 
editor,  and  brilliant  scholar  generally,  wrote 
two  novels,  Mendel  Gibbor,  i.  e.  “  Men¬ 
del  the  Strong,”  and  Vogele  der  Maggid , 
i.  e.  “Vogele  the  Preacher,”  both  of  which 
portray  in  bright  flashes  and  genial  style 
that  peculiar  life  whereof  we  speak.  In 
reprinting  Vogele  der  Maggid  in  his  maga¬ 
zine,  Der  Sinai ,  in  1861,  the  great  Jewish 
preacher  and  writer,  Dr.  David  Einhorn, 
prefaced  the  publication  with  the  following 
note  :  “The  readers  of  the  Sinai  will  cer¬ 
tainly  thank  us  for  republishing  this  ex¬ 
cellent  novel  of  the  brilliant  Bernstein. 
It  is  permeated  with  the  real  Jewish  spirit, 
and  portrays  in  masterly  touches  phases 
of  life  and  thought  that  have  well  nigh 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  225 

disappeared,  and  sound  almost  legendary 
to  the  younger  generation.  It  is  arousing 
the  greatest  attention  in  Jewish  circles  in 
Germany.  Only  a  genial  man  like  Bern¬ 
stein,  prominent  as  theologian  as  well  as 
scientist  (his  work  on  natural  history  is 
now  being  reprinted  in  America),  could 
write  such  a  novel.”140 

I  will  quote  a  few  passages  from  these 
tales  of  Bernstein.  In  speaking  of  the 
persecutions,  he  says:  “The  history  of 
the  legislation  of  all  states  concerning 
Jews,  whether  dictated  by  religious  hatred 
or  perverted  benevolence,  contained  the 
source  of  eternal  pain  ;  this  lent  an 
ever  renewed  significance  to  the  oldest 
prophetical  lamentations.”  The  implicit 
trust  in  God  that  characterized  Jews 
even  in  the  darkest  days  is  well  ex¬ 
pressed  thus  :  “  Dost  thou  not  know  that 
with  Him  there  is  help?  Is  it  not  writ¬ 
ten,  hope  in  God  and  trust  in  Him,  for  He 
will  bring  it  to  pass?  Yes,  even  though 
thou  canst  not  speak  with  man,  speak 
to  Him,  and  thou  wilt  see,  His  help  will 
come.”  The  love  of  the  Jewish  husband 


226 


Old  European  Jewries . 

for  his  wife,  the  foundation  whereon  rests 
the  home  life  of  Jews,  ever  so  highly 
appreciated  and  praised,  is  well  expressed 
in  a  sympathetic  reminiscence  of  the  quiet 
Salme,  in  Mendel  Gibbor.  “  Four  years 
God,  blessed  be  He,  permitted  us  to  be 
together.  His  holy  will  did  not  bless  us 
with  children,  but  her  heart  grew  more 
pious  and  joyful  from  day  to  day,  and  when 
she  implored  God  for  His  mercy  and  com¬ 
passion,  it  was  only  her  eyes  that  expressed 
prayer  to  Him  on  high,  but  her  lips  smiled 
upon  her  happy  husband.  Light  rested  on 
her  face  and  in  her  soul,  until  her  time 
came,  and  she  was  called  away  by  God. 
*  *  *  God,  blessed  be  He,  is  my  wit¬ 

ness,  I  did  not  murmur,  for  I  lived  with 
my  pious  Yiltte  four  years,  two  months, 
and  six  days,  and  that  was  more  than  a 
whole  life  and  a  longlife.”  In  this  novel 
he  tells  the  story  of  the  Polish  Jew,  Saul 
Wahl,  who  is  said  to  have  been  king  of 
Poland  for  one  day  during  an  interreg¬ 
num. 

The  man  entitled  above  all  others  to 
the  designation,  “  Poet  of  the  Ghetto,” 


i 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  227 

is  Leopold  Kompert.  Born  in  the  Ghetto 
of  Mtinchengratz,  Bohemia,  in  1822,  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  true  life  of  the  Ghetto 
from  his  very  infancy,  he  knew  from  ex¬ 
perience  all  its  phases  and  all  the  peculiar 
characters  developed  by  it.  His  was  a 
poetic  soul,  and  he  threw  the  glow  of 
ideality  over  Ghetto  scenes,  yet  presented 
them  garbed  in  the  elements  of  truth.  In 
a  series  of  tales  he  has  preserved  for 
later  generations  the  peculiarities  of  that 
life.  So  charmingly  did  he  write,  so  new 
and  striking  was  the  matter  of  his  produc¬ 
tions,  that  his  tales  created  a  great  sensa¬ 
tion  in  the  literary  world,  arousing  as  much 
attention,  it  is  said,  as  Auerbach’s  equally 
unique  Schwarzwalder  Dorfgeschichten. 
These  Ghetto  novels  of  Kompert  have 
become  part  and  parcel  of  the  world’s 
literature.  They  were  a  revelation. 
They  pointed  to  a  life  unknown  to  the 
world.  Joy  and  sorrow,  happiness  and 
woe,  love  and  marriage,  scenes  of  sick¬ 
ness  and  death,  all  the  common  hap¬ 
penings  that  go  to  make  up  daily  life,  are 
described  by  him  with  a  sympathetic  feel- 


228 


Old  European  Jewries. 

in g  that  only  a  loving  spirit  can  experience. 
They  are  homely  scenes  that  he  pictures. 
Nothing  grandiose  or  heroic  in  the  sense 
of  the  uncommon  appears  upon  his  pages, 
and  for  this  very  reason,  because  all  his 
stories  are  concerned  with  scenes  and  inci¬ 
dents  with  which  every  one  is  familiar,  and 
which  appeal  to  the  human  heart,  he  ex¬ 
ercised  such  power  with  his  pen,  and  made 
the  better  side  of  Ghetto  life  immortal. 
Scenes  of  home,  scenes  of  the  heart,  of 
mother’s  love,  of  father’s  self-sacrifice,  of 
filial  devotion,  of  conjugal  constancy,  these 
form  the  burden  of  his  tales,  and  as  long  as 
man  is  interesting  to  man,  so  long  must 
stories  of  this  kind  meet  with  a  sympathetic 
reception.  The  qualities  of  the  heart  as 
appearing  in  the  Ghetto  formed  the  inspi¬ 
ration  of  his  muse,  and  the  human  heart  re¬ 
sponds  to  what  is  true  or  loving,  wherever 
it  may  appear.  Then,  too,  he  presented 
in  strong  colors  the  strange  characters  pe¬ 
culiar  to  the  Ghetto,  the  products  of  cen¬ 
turies  of  seclusion  and  exclusion,  such  as 
the  Min ,  the  silent  man;  the  Seelenfan- 
gerin ,  the  woman  who  took  God’s  place 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature \  229 

in  protecting  the  helpless  ;  the  Dorfgeher, 
the  peddler  ;  the  Shlemihl,  the  awkward 
individual  unfortunate  in  every  undertak¬ 
ing.  Institutions  peculiar  to  the  Ghetto 
were  explained  to  the  world,  such  as  the 
Beschau,  the  custom  of  the  young  men  of 
the  Ghetto  to  visit,  with  the  purpose  of 
taking  to  wife,  the  girl  recommended  to 
them  by  the  marriage  broker,  or  Shadchen. 
Ohne  B  cwilligung  is  the  story  of  the  cou¬ 
ples  who,  because  of  the  inhuman  regula¬ 
tion  limiting  Jewish  families  to  a  certain 
number,  could  not  obtain  permission  from 
the  government  to  marry,  and  there¬ 
fore,  although  united  by  a  religious  cer¬ 
emony,  were  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  not 
legally  married.  These  scenes  and  char¬ 
acters  he  paints  with  the  brush  of  the 
artist,  and  in  a  manner  so  vivid  that  we 
perceive  at  once  that  he  is  writing  from 
knowledge  and  with  sympathy.  It  is  only 
the  fairer  side  that  he  presents,  the  hor¬ 
rors  of  that  existence  he  passes  by.  He 
throws  the  shimmer  of  beauty  over  every¬ 
thing  that  he  touches,  and  in  the  light  of 
his  writings  the  poetry  of  the  Ghetto  alone 


230 


Old  European  Jewries. 

appears.  Even  his  characters  are  for  the 
most  part  good,  and  we  are  led  to  think 
that  the  darker  traits  that  deface  human 
nature  did  not  exist  there.  This  was  due  to 
his  idealistic,  artistic  temperament.  After 
his  death,  in  1886,  Karl  Emil  Franzos, 
another  novelist  of  the  Ghetto,  wrote  of 
this  feature  of  Kompert’s  stories:  ‘‘Jew¬ 
ish  life,  as  portrayed  by  Kompert,  appears 
more  edifying  than  it  really  is.  Not  that 
he  exaggerated  its  good  traits,  or  avoided 
the  shadows  and  the  reverse  of  the  medal, 
but  he  did  not  describe  these  so  vigor¬ 
ously  and  minutely  as  its  bright  side.  This 
was  the  result,  not  of  carefully  planned 
purpose  on  his  part,  but  of  his  artistic  in¬ 
dividuality  and  character.  He  could  not 
speak  a  harsh  word,  or  express  an  adverse 
opinion.  Wickedness  was  to  him  a  source 
of  spiritual  pain,  and,  in  art,  he  hated  to 
analyze  a  low  character.”  This  is  a  fault  of 
omission,  but  the  purity  and  ideality  of 
Kompert’s  writings  atone  for  a  defect  of 
this  kind,  a  defect  readily  pardoned.  Pro¬ 
fessor  H.  Steinthal  most  beautifully  says  : 
“  What  was  it  that  guided  Kompert’s  pen  ? 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  231 

Gratitude,  and  the  love  of  a  Jewish  son 
for  his  Jewish  mother,  the  Ghetto  street ; 
for  this  revealed  to  him  the  place  of  his 
childhood,  full  of  the  brightest  sunlight. 
H  is  glance  was  not  directed  to  the  nar- 
rowness  of  the  street  or  the  pavement  ; 
he  preferred  to  look  up  to  the  sky  from 
which  brightness  beamed.” 

Now  let  us  examine  more  closely  the 
stories,  so  distinctive  in  their  treatment, 
which  fascinated  the  reading  world. 

Kompert  wrote  his  first  stories  of  the 
Ghetto  in  1846 — 1847  for  the  Vienna  Jahr- 
buch  fur  Israeliten.  Then  followed  in 
rapid  succession  his  many  other  tales,  “At 
the  Plough,”  a  lengthy  romance,  “  Bohe¬ 
mian  Jews,”  “New  Stories  from  the 
Ghetto,”  “Tales  of  a  Jews’  Street,”  vol¬ 
umes  of  short  stories,  and  “  Amongst 
Ruins.”  These  comprise  his  J ewish  stories; 
he  wrote  others  also,  but  with  them  we  are 
not  concerned  here. 

F'irst,  a  few  words  as  to  what  Ghetto 
life  itself  was  to  him.  He  says  in  one  of 
his  stories  :  “In  the  Ghetto  every  indi¬ 
vidual  is  bound  by  a  thousand  chains  to 


232  Old  European  Jewries, 

the  community.  Woe  has  here  a  thou¬ 
sand  tongues,  and  if  the  lightning  blast 
the  happiness  of  a  single  one,  a  thou¬ 
sand  eyelashes  are  cast  down.”141 

Of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ghetto,  he 
tells  us:  “They  had  their  sorrows  and 
troubles,  as  we  have  ours,  and  when  mis¬ 
fortune  came  upon  them,  it  visited  them 
with  harsh  and  heavy  blows.  Rude  and 
unfeeling,  it  struck  them  with  doubled 
fist.  But  when  their  hearts  expanded 
with  happiness,  and  they  wished  to  enjoy 
themselves,  they  were  like  such  as  swim 
in  refreshing  waters.  They  plunged  in, 
fresh  and  courageous,  and  permitted  them¬ 
selves  to  be  carried  by  the  stream  whither¬ 
soever  it,  not  they,  wished.”142  Again : 
“We  must  not  look  for  much  romance,  for 
we  are  in  the  Ghetto,  and  there  the  people 
have  something  else  to  do  besides  stand¬ 
ing  idly  at  the  wells  and  helping  beautiful 
Rachels  remove  heavy  stones.  The  people 
there  are  themselves  stones,  and  must 
permit  themselves  to  be  shoved  and  moved 
by  the  caprice  of  others.”143 

He  wrote  in  the  purest  German ;  he 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  233 

never  uses  the  jargon  except  when  it  serves 
to  bring  out  his  characters  in  stronger 
light.  His  stories  are  truly  poetic  and 
artistic. 

In  his  tale,  Die  Jahrzeit ,144  i.  e.,  the  an¬ 
niversary  of  a  parent’s  death,  always  com¬ 
memorated  by  the  children  throughout 
their  lives  by  the  Kaddish, X. hat  distinctively 
Jewish  prayer,  he  portrays  the  loving  at¬ 
tachment  of  the  Jew  for  his  dead,  and  the 
anxiety  of  the  living  to  have  some  one  say 
the  Kaddish  for  them,  when  they  have  pass¬ 
ed  away.  An  abstract  of  this  tale  will  fur¬ 
nish  a  good  example  of  Kompert’s  power 
and  style.  The  story  tells  of  Jacob  Low,  a 
rich  man,  who  had  five  promising  sons  and 
one  daughter.  He  is  delighted  with  the 
thought  that  there  will  be  five  sons  to 
survive  him  and  recite  the  Kaddish  for 
the  parents  after  their  death.  His  hopes, 
however,  are  shattered,  for,  one  after 
another,  these  sons  succumb  to  a  treach¬ 
erous  disease.  All  his  expectations  now 
center  in  the  daughter  ;  if  there  is  to  be 
anyone  to  remember  him  after  death,  it 
will  be  her  children.  He  lavishes  every- 


234  Old  European  Jewries. 

thing  upon  her.  She  is  a  gay,  careless 
child,  and  falls  in  love  with  a  certain  Jac¬ 
ques.  Her  parents  oppose  the  match. 
The  father  had  set  his  heart  upon  her 
marrying  his  cousin  Maier,  a  good-hearted 
though  homely  young  man.  She,  how¬ 
ever,  marries  the  man  of  her  choice,  and 
follows  him  to  Hungary.  Her  father  dis¬ 
cards  her  ;  the  mother  dies  ;  the  father 
grows  morose,  hard,  sullen.  There  is  no 
one  to  remember  the  Jahrzeit  of  his  wife 
except  himself.  He  is  an  old  man  ;  when 
he  dies  there  will  be  no  one  to  recite  the 
Kaddish  ;  both  will  be  forgotten.  Mean¬ 
while  the  daughter  fares  badly  ;  she  has 
married  unhappily  ;  her  husband  deserts 
her,  and  goes  to  America.  She  returns 
to  her  home,  and  passes  the  night  on  a 
bench  in  front  of  her  father’s  house, 
her  little  boy  beside  her.  Early  in  the 
morning,  before  anyone  is  astir  in  the 
street,  her  cousin  Maier,  who  happens  to 
have  left  his  house,  comes  across  her,  and 
shocked  at  her  appearance  and  her  home¬ 
less  condition,  induces  her  to  go  into  his 
home  to  his  parents,  her  relatives.  A 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  235 

happy  idea  strikes  him  by  which  to  effect 
a  reconciliation  with  the  father.  It  is  two 
days  before  the  anniversary  of  the  moth¬ 
er’s  death.  By  dint  of  hard  work  and 
perseverance  he  succeeds  in  teaching  the 
child  the  Kaddish.  On  the  anniversary 
he  takes  the  child  to  the  synagogue.  The 
close  of  the  story  had  best  be  told  in 
Kompert’s  own  words  :  “  The  decisive 

moment  had  come.  Maier  took  up  the 
boy  quickly,  and  carried  him  through  the 
rows  of  worshippers  up  to  Jacob  Low,  at 
whose  side  he  placed  him.  Lost  in  the 
painful  recollection  of  what  the  prayer 
aroused  in  this  hour,  Jacob  looked  straight 
before  him,  and  did  not  notice  what  was 
taking  place  round  about. 

He  began  the  prayer.  *  *  *  But  clearer 
and  ever  clearer  resounded  the  same  words 
from  the  mouth  of  a  child  at  his  side.  His 
eyes  involuntarily  filled  with  tears.  *  *  * 
He  paused  and  listened,  and  let  the  child 
speak  alone.  *  *  *  All  his  woe,  all  the  icy 
pain  at  his  heart,  which  had  chilled  him 
for  so  many  years,  melted  before  these 
pure,  clear,  childish  sounds.  That 


236 


Old  European  J civvies. 


which  he  had  always  concealed  in  his  in¬ 
nermost  heart,  the  lonoqnof  for  his  lost 
daughter,  the  secret  which  he  thought  no 
human  soul  would  ever  discover,  this  child 
unraveled.  *  *  *  ‘  Who  is  this  child  ?’  he 
cried  with  piercing  voice,  when  the  last 
words  of  the  prayer  had  scarcely  sounded. 
‘Cousin,’  said  Maier  behind  him,  *  *  * 

‘  it  is  your  and  Esther’s  grandchild.  *  *  * 
It  is  Bliimele’s  child.’ 

With  a  faint  cry  Jacob  Low  staggered 
backwards,  and  would  have  sustained  a 
severe  fall  had  Maier  not  caught  him  in 
his  arms.  His  face  was  deathly  pale,  he 
had  fainted. 

A  great  commotion  arose  among  the 
worshippers ;  they  crowded  around  ;  an 
unheard  of  thing  had  taken  place  before 
their  eyes. 

All  at  once  Jacob  Low  stood  up  sup¬ 
ported  by  Maier.  He  began  to  weep  bit¬ 
terly. 

‘  Where  is  the  child  ?  ’  cried  he,  not  no¬ 
ticing  it  on  account  of  his  streaming  tears. 
‘Where  is  Blumele’s  child?’ 

Then  Maier  picked  up  the  boy,  and  laid 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  237 

him  upon  his  grandfather’s  breast.  Trem¬ 
bling  arms  embraced  the  child.  *  *  * 

‘  Bltimele !  Where  is  my  Blumele  !’ 
cried  Jacob  Low. 

So  the  prayer  of  a  child  had  reconciled 
father  and  daughter.” 

Bliimele’s  husband  died  in  America ; 
she  married  her  cousin,  and  Jacob  Low 
lived  to  see  many  grandchildren,  who 
would  recite  the  Kaddish  for  him  after  his 
death. 

Of  the  Kaddish ,  that  remarkable  prayer, 
which  even  to-day  the  most  lax  and  in¬ 
different  Jew  feels  it  his  duty  to  recite, 
as  an  act  of  filial  piety,  in  memory  of  a 
deceased  parent,  Kompert  says  : 

“  The  Kaddish  is  that  peculiar  prayer 
handed  down  from  Generation  to  crenera- 
tion,from  century  to  century, which,  spoken 
in  the  language  of  ancient  Zion,  forms 
an  essential  portion  of  the  daily  service. 
Its  origin  is  mysterious;  angels  are  said 
to  have  brought  it  down  from  heaven  and 
taught  it  to  men.  About  this  prayer  the 
tenderest  threads  of  filial  feeling  and 
human  recollection  are  entwined  ;  for  it 


238  Old  European  Jewries . 

is  the  prayer  of  the  orphans  !  When  the 
father  or  the  mother  dies,  thesurviving  sons 
are  to  recite  it  twice  daily,  morning  and 
evening,  throughout  the  year  of  mourn¬ 
ing,  and  then  also  on  each  recurring  anni¬ 
versary  of  the  death,  or,  as  it  is  called  in 
the  Ghetto,  on  the  Jahrzeit ,  for  it  pos¬ 
sesses  wonderful  power.  *  *  * 

Truly,  if  there  is  any  bond  strong  and 
indissoluble  enough  to  chain  heaven  to 
earth  it  is  this  prayer!  It  keeps  the  liv¬ 
ing  together,  and  forms  the  bridge  to  the 
mysterious  realm  of  the  dead.  One 
might  almost  say  that  this  prayer  is  the 
watchman  and  the  guardian  of  the  people 
by  whom  alone  it  is  uttered;  therein  lies  the 
warrant  of  its  continuance.  Can  a  people 
disappear  and  be  annihilated  *  *  *  so 
long  as  a  child  remembers  its  parents  ? 
*  *  *  It  may  sound  strange  :  in  the  midst 
of  the  wildest  dissipation  has  this  prayer 
of  recollection  recalled  to  his  better  self 
many  a  dissolute  character,  so  that  he  has 
bethought  himself,  and  for  a  short  time  at 
least  purified  himself  by  honoring  the 
memory  of  his  parents.  Such  a  one  may 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  239 

well  shudder  when  he  thinks  of  the  life 
he  has  led,  and  compares  it  with  that 
which  he  might  have  passed,  if  the  eye  of 
father  and  mother  had  still  watched  over 
him  ! 

Because  this  prayer  is  a  resurrection  in 
the  spirit  of  the  perishable  in  man,  because 
it  does  not  acknowledge  death,  because  it 
permits  the  blossom,  which,  withered,  has 
fallen  from  the  tree  of  mankind,  to  flower 
and  develop  again  in  the  human  heart, 
therefore  it  possesses  sanctifying  power ! 
To  know  that  thou  wilt  die,  wilt  pass 
from  this  ever  restless,  corruptible  form 
into  a  mysterious  hereafter,  but  that  the 
earth  dully  falling  on  thy  head  will  not 
cover  thee  entirely ;  that  there  remain 
those  behind  who  know  that  thou  hast 
died,  who,  wherever  they  may  be  on  this 
wide  earth,  whether  they  be  poor  or  rich, 
will  send  this  prayer  after  thee  ;  to  know 
that  thou  canst  call  no  green  spot  in  this 
world  thine,  that  thou  leavest  them  no 
house,  no  estate,  no  field  by  which  they 
must  remember  thee,  and  that  yet  they 
will  cherish  thy  memory  as  their  dearest 


240  Old  European  Jewries. 

inheritance  ;  *  *  *  insignificant,  despised, 
a  bubble  though  thou  wast  in  life,  they 
raise  thee  to  importance  long  after  thou 
art  no  longer  here ;  *  *  *  who  is  there 
that  cannot  comprehend  Jacob  Low’s 
peculiar  train  of  thought,  and  that  he 
found  great  satisfaction  in  the  knowledge 
that  five  boys  would  say  Kaddish  for 
him?” 

Plain,  homely  scenes,  occurrences  in 
daily  life,  the  old  and  ever  new  story  of 
love  and  devotion,  as  developed  among 
the  J  ews,  he  beautifully  describes.  The 
“ Jewish  heart”  that  beats  so  kindly  and 
sympathetically,  that  even  in  greatest 
misfortune  retained  its  interest  in  men, 
he  knew  howto  appreciate.  In  one  place, 
in  speaking  of  this  term,  “Jewish  heart,” 
he  says  :  “This  word  embodies  something 
inexpressible,  and  it  is  difficult  to  make 
it  even  approximately  understood.  What 
may  appear  to  some  an  empty  sound  takes 
on  a  reality  of  which  the  Ghetto  is  best 
able  to  speak.  This  ‘  heart  ’  is  an  histor¬ 
ical  tradition — whoever  appeals  to  it, 
desires  to  say,  ‘  Do  not  forget !  be  mind- 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature .  241 

ful  of  that  which  your  fathers,  my  fathers, 
suffered  together,  what  they  experienced, 
how  they  rejoiced,  and  also  sorrowed  !  ’  It 
is  the  expression  of  the  strongest  fellow¬ 
ship,  the  secret  bond  of  sympathy  in  a 
brother’s  fate  *  *  *  whatever  the  Ghetto 
is,  and  however  it  may  appear,  without 
that  ‘  heart  ’  it  would  be  something  en¬ 
tirely  different.  In  all  likelihood,  we 
would  have  nothing  to  report  about  it  !  ”145 
“The  Jew  can  give  to  all,  the  Jew  does 
not  hesitate,  and  that  is  the  case  because 
the  Jew  has  a  heart.” 

And  who  will  not  appreciate  these  words? 
“A  mother’s  heart  is  a  peculiar  thing. 
Stronger  and  more  courageous  than  any 
hero  in  battle,  if  it  is  necessary  to  defend 
a  child,  whether  from  real  danger  or 
from  the  slightest  fancied  evil,  it  be¬ 
comes  fearful,  almost  cowardly,  when  it 
anticipates  danger.”14*’  Throughout  his 
writings  occur  these  beautiful  expressions, 
giving  proof  of  his  deep  and  searching  in¬ 
sight  into  human  nature. 

But  Kompert  was  more  than  the  poet 
of  the  feelings.  He  was  enthusiastically 


242  Old  European  Jewries. 

interested  in  the  complete  emancipation 
of  the  Jew  from  the  oppression  of  centuries. 
All  plans  to  further  the  development  of 
trades  among  Jews  found  his  hearty  sup¬ 
port,  and  in  one  of  his  stories,  TrenderlJ 7 
he  tells  of  a  Jewish  boy  who  became  a 
skilled  workman.  He  felt  that,  more  than 
anything  else,  the  Jew’s  working  in  the 
same  trades  with  others,  a  privilege  that 
past  legislation  had  denied  him,  would  tend 
to  break  down  the  barriers  of  prejudice, 
and  so  he  exclaims,  “  Hammer  away,  O, 
locksmith  !  every  blow  on  the  anvil  breaks 
a  link  from  the  chain  of  slavery  that  binds 
thy  people,  and  sounds  a  welcome  to  the 
new  time  coming.” 

In  the  movement  to  make  Jews  farmers 
he  showed  lively  interest.  He  felt  that 
the  Jew  must  out  from  the  Ghetto  with 
its  trading  into  the  field  with  its  freedom. 
The  day  of  emancipation  that  had  dawned 
must  see  more  and  more  Jews  ploughing 
the  fields  and  harvesting  the  grain.  The 
farmer  is  a  free  man,  he  says,  far,  far  supe¬ 
rior  to  the  trader  and  the  merchant.  His 
beautiful  story,  “The  Princess, ”I4S  dwells 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  243 

on  the  superiority,  the  independence  of 
the  farmer’s  life,  and  describes  the  doings 
and  the  happiness  of  the  Jewish  agricul¬ 
turist.  He  makes  his  farmer  say:  “Can 
you  not  be  made  to  understand  that  in  this 
day  of  ours  a  farmer  counts  for  far  more 
than  all  who  sit  in  their  shops,  and  contend 
with  one  another  for  customers?  *  *  *  I, 
who  dwell  here  on  my  estate,  and  owe  no 
man  a  penny,  I  am  more  than  the  people 
in  the  *  Streets  ’  with  all  their  money  and 
treasures.”  In  his  romance, “At  the  Plough,” 
he  treats  of  the  same  subject.  He  tells  of 
a  family  that  left  the  Ghetto,  and  took  to 
farming.  The  book  teaches  a  like  lesson 
-of  the  departure  of  the  Jews  from  the 
Ghetto,  the  participation  in  the  new  life 
that  a  kindlier  legislation  opened  to  Jews, 
the  struggle  to  give  up  the  old  familiar 
habits,  and  the  final  adaptation  to  new 
conditions.  These  stories  he  wrote  con 
amore.  He  was  a  lover  of  nature,  and 
his  descriptions  of  the  fields  and  their  pro¬ 
ducts  are  masterly.  He  felt  that  a  new 
and  better  time  had  come,  that  the  Jews 
would  have  to  adapt  themselves  to  new 


244  (9/^/  Etiropean  Jewries. 

conditions,  that  the  Ghetto  with  its  nar¬ 
rowing  influences  would  have  to  give  way 
to  the  larger  life  of  nature  and  companion¬ 
ship  with  men  in  general. 

Although  he  so  poetically  portrayed  the 
scenes  and  the  life  of  the  Ghetto,  yet  was 
he  a  child  of  his  age.  He  was  much  af¬ 
fected  and  influenced  by  the  new  spirit. 
In  writing  his  stories  of  the  Ghetto,  he 
seemed  to  be  describing  incidents  of  a  dis¬ 
tant  past ;  in  his  tales  depicting  the  strug¬ 
gles  in  adopting  new  ideas  and  new  occu¬ 
pations,  he  stood  in  the  present.  The 
story  that  gives  most  complete  expression 
to  the  new  spirit  is  his  longest  tale, 
“Amongst  Ruins.”  Here  the  new  strug¬ 
gles  with  the  old,  the  letter  with  the  spirit. 
Tolerance  between  Jew  and  Christian  is 
the  text ;  a  new  life  arising  from  the  ruins 
of  what  was  wrong,  intolerant,  hateful  in 
the  old.  Thus  was  Leopold  Kompert  a 
power ;  he  opened  a  new  department  in 
literature.  He  moved  in  a  narrow  groove, 
it  may  be  said,  but  on  that  very  account 
he  reached  such  mastery  in  his  art.  He 
has  had  followers  and  imitators,  but  as  the 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature .  245 

interpreter  of  the  now  vanished  life  of  the 
Ghetto  he  stands  unequalled. 

There  have  been  many  others  who,  after 
Kompert  had  given  the  impulse,  worked 
the  mine  of  Ghetto  life,  and  wrote  stories 
more  or  less  true  to  life.  We  may  men¬ 
tion  S.  Kohn,  author  of  Gabriel ,  and  many 
other  stories,  whose  scenes  are  laid  in  the 
Ghetto  of  Prague  ;  Edward  Kulke,  E.  O. 
Tauber,  Michael  Klapp,  S.  H.  Mosenthal, 
Leo  Herzberg-Frankel,  Fanny  Lewald, 
S.  P'ormstecher,  Ludwig  Philippson,  M. 
Lehmann,  Max  Ring,  M.  Goldschmidt  ;149 
Ludwig  August  Frankl,  who  wove 
the  legends  of  the  Prague  Ghetto 
into  his  poem,  Der  Primator ;  Phoebus 
Philippson,  in  his  strange  and  powerful 
tale,  Der  unbekannte  Rabbi;  Nathan 
Samuely,  author  of  “Pictures  of  Jewish 
Life  in  Galicia,”  and  many  others.  There 
are  several  living  authors  who  should  be 
particularly  mentioned  as  excelling  in  the 
treatment  of  Ghetto  life.  Karl  Emil 
Franzos  may  be  called  the  intellectual 
scion  of  Kompert.  His  scenes  are  for 
the  most  part  laid  in  Galicia  and  the  Buko- 


246  Old  European  Jewries . 

wina.  He  depicts  the  darker  and  sadder 
sides  of  Ghetto  life.  He  is  different  from 
Kompert  in  this.  Kompert’s  was  an  opti¬ 
mistic  nature  ;  he  lived  in  the  period  of 
emancipation  when  hope  gilded  the  hori¬ 
zon.  Franzos,  living  in  a  later  day,  has 
experienced  the  futility  of  those  hopes. 
The  Jews  of  the  Galician  towns  are  as 
they  were  before  the  year  1848,  which 
promised  to  bring  about  an  entire  revolu¬ 
tion  in  the  status  of  Jews  everywhere 
in  Europe.  His  best  known  Jewish  writ¬ 
ings  are,  “The  Jews  of  Barnow”  and 
“  From  the  Don  to  the  Danube,”  sketches 
that  inform  the  world  of  the  characteris¬ 
tics  of  Jewish  life  in  those  far-off  and  un¬ 
known  quarters  of  Galicia,  where  super¬ 
stition  is  rife,  and  firm  belief  in  the  mira¬ 
cles  wrought  by  the  wonder-rabbi  of 
Sadagora  rules.  It  is  a  pity  that  Franzos 
paints  only  the  sombre  pictures,  but  the 
misery  and  sorrows  of  that  life  seem  to 
have  so  impressed  themselves  upon  his 
mind  as  to  force  out  of  sight  the  brighter 
and  lighter  scenes.  His  last  Ghetto 
novel  .Judith  Trachtenberg, ;  is  a  powerful 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  24 7 

tale,  and  treats  the  vexed  subject  of  inter¬ 
course  betwen  Christians  and  Jews.  The 
moral  he  desires  to  teach  is  the  impos¬ 
sibility  of  happiness  in  mixed  marriages. 
Judith  Trachtenberg  is  the  victim  of  the 
unhappiness  caused  by  such  a  union.  Her 
father  says  to  her  at  the  start,  fire  and 
water  will  not  readily  mix.  In  the  intoxi¬ 
cation  of  love  she  consents  to  become  a 
Christian.  When  she  learns  that  she  has 
been  duped,  a  revulsion  of  feeling  sets  in. 
She  desires  to  remain  a  Jewess  ;  her  hus¬ 
band,  a  Christian  nobleman,  looks  down 
upon  Jews;  she  feels  that  there  is  only 
misery  in  store  for  them  both,  and 
rather  than  live  on  so,  she  determines  to 
die  after  having  exacted  a  promise  that 
she  will  be  buried  as  a  Jewess.  It  is  bet¬ 
ter  for  her,  better  for  her  husband.  As  a 
Jewess  she  was  content;  she  can  never  be 
anything  else.  A  home  disrupted  by  reli¬ 
gion  must  be  unhappy.  The  author  sets 
forth  the  consequences  of  intermarriage 
in  these  strong  colors  to  make  the  lesson 
as  powerful  as  possible. 

I  mention  further  the  well  known 


248  Old  European  Jewries . 

writer,  Sacher-Masoch,  who,  although  a 
Christian,  has  written  many  realistic  stories 
of  Jewish  life  in  Poland  and  Galicia. 

Born  in  Lemberg,  he  is  thoroughly  well 
acquainted  with  the  scenes  which  he  de¬ 
scribes  and  the  life  which  he  portrays. 
H  e  is  altogether  unprejudiced,  and  al¬ 
though  his  tales  do  not  always  place  his 
characters  in  the  most  favorable  light,  yet 
we  feel  that  he  is  true  to  nature. 

Some  years  ago,  a  new  writer  of  Ghetto 
novels,  Miss  E.  P.  Orzeszko,  appeared  on 
the  horizon,  and  created  a  sensation  with 
her  book  Meier  EsofowiczM  The  scene 
is  laid  in  the  far  off  village  of  Szybow, 
Russia,  and  depicts  the  struggles  of  a 
youth  whose  desire  for  culture  stirred  up 
all  the  bitter  fanaticism  of  the  strict  Jew¬ 
ish  conformists.  It  is  the  tale  of  the 
struggle  of  enlightenment  with  ignorance, 
of  reason  with  blind  faith,  of  the  spirit  of 
religion  with  the  form.  Meier  represents 
all  the  strivings  of  a  lofty  human  soul  for 
the  best  and  noblest,  rising  above  outward 
circumstances  and  surroundings ;  his  ene¬ 
mies  embody  the  uncompromising  fealty 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  249 

to  tradition.  The  scenes  are  powerfully 
drawn.  The  story  is  essentially  one  of 
to-day,  and  the  author  has  well  succeeded 
in  depicting  the  different  currents  of  re¬ 
ligious  thought.  Since  then  Miss  Or- 
zeszko  has  written  other  Jewish  stories, 
one  of  which,  “A  Flower,”  has  lately  ap¬ 
peared  in  the  columns  of  the  Allgemeine 
Zeitung  des  JudenthumsT 1 

The  latest  writer  of  sketches  of  Ghetto 
life,  and  at  the  same  time  the  first  English 
author  of  strength  to  undertake  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  the  traits  developed  in  the  con¬ 
fines  of  Jewry,  is  Israel  Zangwill,  whose 
book  entitled  ‘'The  Children  of  the  Ghet¬ 
to”  appeared  recently.  It  is  true  that  his 
sketches  are  pictures  of  life  in  the  Jewish 
quarter  of  London,  which  is  not  a  Ghetto 
in  the  sense  in  which  I  have  considered 
Ghettos.  This  J  ewish  quarter  was  the  domi¬ 
cile  voluntarily  chosen  by  Jews  who  settled 
in  the  great  city,  and,  therefore,  this  book 
scarcely  comes  within  the  range  of  my  sub¬ 
ject,  but  the  traits  and  characteristics 
developed  in  this  quarter,  as  set  forth  in 
the  pages  of  his  volumes,  are  much  the 


250  Old  European  Jewries . 

same  as  the  Ghetto  everywhere  produced. 
The  inhabitants  came  for  the  most  part 
from  real  Ghettos,  and  transferred  to  their 
new  home  the  peculiarities  acquired  in  the 
old.  These  sketches  are  unique,  different 
from  what  we  had  grown  accustomed  to 
in  the  Ghetto  novels  of  the  German  writers 
mentioned.  The  author  writes  of  present 
conditions,  and  throws  many  a  flash-light 
of  keen  observation  upon  modern  English 
Jewish  life  in  the  east  and  west  ends  of 
London.  The  small  vices  and  the  many 
virtues  of  the  children  of  the  Ghetto  are 
skilfully  set  forth  in  these  powerful  sketches, 
unlike  any  thing  in  English  literature. 

My  task  is  done.  I  have  traced  the 
establishment  of  the  Ghetto  from  its  be¬ 
ginning  to  the  day  of  its  removal  in  civil¬ 
ized  lands,  and  have  presented  its  life  in 
its  various  phases  and  localities.  It  is  a 
long,  sad  story  of  religious  repression  and 
sectarian  hatred,  and  forms  a  gloomy  chap¬ 
ter  in  the  volume  of  the  dark  doings  of 
men.  The  Jew,  however,  bears  no  rancor  ; 
he  thanks  God  that  this  is  past,  and  with 
the  optimism  characteristic  of  his  religion 


The  Ghetto  in  Literature.  2  s  1 

works  on  and  hopes  on,  looking  forward 
to  the  coming  of  the  time  when  all  men 
will  be  free  to  think,  free  to  act,  free  to 
live  anywhere  and  everywhere  on  the  earth, 
which  “God  has  given  to  the  children  of 

o 
)9 


men. 


o 


/ 


NOTES  AND  INDEX 


. 


. 


NOTES. 


Frederic  Heidekoper,  Judaism  at  Rome,  B.  C.  76  to  A. 
D.  140,  p.  6.  New  York,  1876. 

2Josephus,  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  XIV,  4,  5. 

H.  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  142. 
Leipsic,  1863. 

E.  Renan  maintains  that  there  were  Jews  in  Rome  as 
early  as  the  second  century  B.  C.  E.  Histoire  du  Peuple 
Israel,  Vol.  V,  p.  6.  Paris,  1893. 

3G.  B.  Depping,  Res  Juifs  dans  le  Moyen  Age,  pp.  1-2. 
Paris,  1834. 

I.  Bedarride,  Res  Juifs  en  France,  en  Italie  et  ear 
Espagne,  p.  25.  Paris,  1S61. 

4  Romans,  XV,  24. 

h  Ibid .,  28. 

6  “  Haeretici,  si  se  transferre  noluerint  ad  ecclesiam 
catholicam,  nec  ipsis  catholicas  dandas  esse  puellas  :  sed 
neque  Judaeis,  neque  haereticis  dare  placuit ;  eo  quod 
nulla  possit  esse  societas  fideli  cum  infideli.  Si  contra 
interdictum  fecerint  parentes  abstineri  per  quinquennium 
placet.”  See  Rabbe  et  Cosartii,  Concilia  Sacrosancta, 
Vol.  I,  pp.  1273-1276.  Paris,  1671-1672  ;  also,  Conciliarum 
omnium  generalium  et  provincialium  collectio  regia,  Vol. 
I,  p.  645.  Paris,  1644. 

7  u  Si  vero  quis  clericus  vel  fidelis  cum  Judaeis  cibum 
sumpserit,  placuit  eum  acommunione  abstinere,  ut  debeat 
emendari.”  Ibid .,  p.  651. 

8  “  Admoneri  placuit  possessores,  ut  non  patiantur  fruc- 
tus  suos  quos  a  Deo  percipiunt,  a  Judaeis  benedici :  ne 

( 255) 


256 


Old  European  Jewries. 

nostram  irritam  et  infirm  am  faciant  benedictionem.  Si 
quis  post  interdictum  facere  usurpaverit,  penitus  ab 
ecclesia  abjiciatur.”  Ibid. 

9Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  V,  pp.  55-56. 

10Depping,  Les  Juifs  dans  le  Moyen  Age,  p.  4. 

11  Martin  Bouquet,  Recueil  des  Historiens  des  Gaules, 
Vol.  I,  p.  746.  Paris,  1840-1876. 

12Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  V,  p.  219. 

Otto  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland  wahrend  des 
Mittelalters,  p.  201.  Brunswick,  1866.  See  also  the  arti¬ 
cle,  “Stammen  die  Juden  in  den  siidlichen  Rheinlanden 
von  den  Vangionen  ab?M  in  Briill’s  Jahrbiicher  fiir 
jiidische  Geschichte  und  Literatur ,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  34-40. 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  1879. 

13  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  88. 

14 Ibid.,  p.  200,  note  10. 

15  Moritz  Stern,  Aus  der  alteren  Geschichte  der  Juden  in 
Regensburg,  in  Zeitschrift  fiir  die  Geschichte  der  Juden 
in  Deutschland ,  Vol.  I,  p.  383. 

16  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  200,  note  10. 

17  Hugo  Barbeck,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Niirnberg 
und  Fiirth,  p.  6.  Nuremberg,  1878. 

18 On  the  subject  of  the  earliest  notices  concerning 
Jews  in  England,  see  Joseph  Jacobs,  The  Jews  of  Ange¬ 
vin  England,  p.  IX  and  pp.  2-3.  New  York  and  London, 

1893- 

19  Salomon  Goldschmidt,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Eng¬ 
land,  pp.  2-4.  Berlin,  1886. 

20  For  first  settlement  in  Bohemia,  see  below,  p.  84. 

21  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  VI,  p.  269. 

22  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  12. 

23  For  the  relation  between  the  king  and  the  Jews  in 
England,  see  Jacobs,  The  Jews  of  Angevin  England, 
Introduction,  p.  XV  ff. 

24  Stobbe,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  19. 

25  For  instance,  in  the  act  of  Frederick  I,  of  the  year 


N otes. 


1156,  by  which  Margrave  Henry  was  created  duke  of 
Austria,  among  other  privileges  granted  him  is  this  of 
having  Jews  in  his  land  :  “  et  potest  in  terris  suis  omnibus 
tenere  Judaeos,  ”  etc.  See  Sulamith ,  Vol.  IV,  p.  220. 

26  “Pestmassige  Abschliessung,”  Leopold  Zunz,  Die  got- 
tesdienstlichen  Vortrage  der  Juden,  p.  451.  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  1892. 

27  David  Kaufmann,  Don  Joseph  Nassi,  der  Begriinder 
der  Colonien  im  Heiligen  Lande  und  die  Gemeinde  von 
Cori  in  der  Campagna,  in  Allgemeine  Zeiiung  des  Juden- 
thums ,  Vol.  XLIX,  p.  9. 

28  See  below,  pp.  35-39. 

29Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  176. 

Honiger,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Juden  im  friiheren  Mit- 
telalter,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Geschichte  der  Juden  in 
Deutschland ,  Vol.  I,  p.  90. 

80  Leopold  Treitel,  Ghetto  und  Ghetto  Dichter,  p.  7,  in 
M.  Brann’s  Volks  und  Haus  Kalender.  Leipsic,  1892. 

31  A.  Berliner,  Aus  den  letzten  Tagen  des  romischen 
Ghetto,  p.  2.  Berlin,  1886. 

Joseph  Jacobs,  Studies  in  Jewish  Statistics,  Appendix, 
p.  XXI,  note  3.  London,  1891. 

32  E.  Rodocanachi,Le  Saint-Siege  et  les  Juifs,  p.  41,  note 
4.  Paris,  1891. 

33  For  an  account  of  the  Portuguese  Judiarias,  see  M. 
Kayserling,  Juden  in  Portugal,  pp.  49-52.  Leipsic,  1867. 

34Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  IX,  p.  46. 

35  See  below,  Chap.  V. 

36Bedarride,  Les  Juifs  in  France,  en  Italie  et  en  Es- 
pagne,  p.  335. 

37  Ibid.,  p.  365. 

38Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  X,  p.  49. 

39  L.  Erler,  Historisch-kritische  Uebersichtder  national- 
bkonomischen  und  social-politischen  Literatur,  p.  372. 
Mayence,  1879. 

40  Ibid.,  p.  50. 

17 


258  Old  European  Jewries. 

41  L.  Zunz,  Zur  Geschichte  und  Literatur,  p.  488.  Ber¬ 
lin,  1845. 

42 Ibid.,  p.  505. 

43 Ibid.,  p.  491. 

44 Ibid.,  p.  500. 

45  Ibid.,  p.  514. 

46  Honiger,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Juden  im  friiheren  Mit- 
telalter,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Geschichte  der  Juden  in 
Deutschland ,  Vol.  I,  p.  91. 

47  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  94. 

48  Moritz  Stern,  Aus  der  alteren  Geschichte  der  Juden 
in  Regensburg,  in  Zeitschrift  fiir  die  Geschichte  der 
fuden  in  Deutschland,  Vol.  I,  p.  383. 

49  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  63. 

50  See  below,  Chap.  IV. 

51  Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  276. 

52  A llgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums ,  Vol.  LV  (Octo¬ 
ber,  1891),  p.  500. 

53  See  below,  Chap.  III. 

54  Berliner,  Aus  dem  inneren  Leben  der  deutschen 
Juden  ini  Mittelalter,  p.  52,  quoted  in  Allgemeine  Zeit¬ 
ung  des  Judenthums ,  Vol.  LV,  p.  500.  See  also  Frankel’s 
Monatsschrift  fur  die  Geschichte  und  Wissenschaft  des 
Judenthums ,  Vol.  X  (1861),  p.  280. 

55  “In  nomine  sanctae  et  individuae  Trinitatis.  Ego, 
Rudigerus,  qui  et  Huozmannus  cognomine,  Nemetensis 
qualiscunque  Episcopus.  Cum  ex  Spirensi  villa  urbem 
facerem,  putavi  melius  amplificare  honorem  Loci  nostri, 
si  et  Judaeos  colligerem.  Collectos  igitur  locavi  extra 
communionem  et  habitationem  caeterorum  civium,  et  ne 
pejoris  turbae  insolentia  facile  turbarentur,  muro  eosdem 
circumdedi :  Locum  vero  habitationis  eorum  juste  ac- 
quisieram  ;  primo  namque  clivum  partim  pecuuia,  partim 
commutatione  :  Vallem  autem  dono  cohaeredum  accepi: 
Locum,  inquam,  ilium  tradidi  eis  ea  conditione  ut  an- 
nuatim  persolvant  III  Libras  et  dimidiam  Spirensis 


Notes. 


259 


monetae  ad  communem  usum  Fratrum  ;  attribui  etiam  eis 
intra  ambitum  liabitationis  suae  et  e  regione  extra  usque 
navalem  portum  et  in  ipso  navali  portu,liberani  potestatem 
cominutandi  aurum  et  argentum,  emendi  vero  et  vendendi 
omnia  quae  placuerint,  eandunque  licentiam  tradidi  eis 
per  totam  civitatem.  Dedi  insuper  eis  de  praedio  Eccle- 
siae  locum  sepulturae  sub  haereditaria  conditione.  Illud 
quoque  addidi,  si  ut  Judaeus  aliunde  apud  ipsos  habitatus 
fuerit,  nullum  ibi  solvat  teloneum ;  deinde,  sicut  tri- 
bunus  urbis  inter  cives,  ita  Archisynagogus  suus  omnem 
judicet  querimoniam  quae  contigerit  inter  eos  et  adversus 
eos.  At,  si  quam  forte  non  determinare  potuerit,  ascendit 
causa  ante  Episcopum  civitatis,  vel  ejus  camerarium. 
Vigilias,  tuiciones,  municiones,  circa  suum  tantummodo 
exhibeant  ambitum  ;  tuiciones  vero  communiter  cum 
servientibus.  Nutrices  et  conductitios  servientes  ex 
nostris  licite  habeant ;  carnes  mactatas,  quas  viderint  sibi 
illicitas  secundum  legis  suae  sanctionem,  licite  vendant 
Cliristianis,  licite  emant  eas  Christiani.  Ad  summam, 
pro  cumulo  benignitatis  concessi  illis  legem,  quancumque 
meliorem  liabet  populus  Judaeorum  in  qualibet  urbe, 
Teutonici  Regni. 

Quam  Traditionem,  atque  concessionem,  ne  aliquis 
meorum  successorum  ejus  pejorare,  vel  ad  majorem 
censum  eos  constringere  valeat,  tanquam  ipsi  banc  con- 
ditionem  sibi  usurpaverint  et  non  ab  Episcopo  acceperint, 
hanc  cartam  praedictae  Traditionis  idoneam.  testis  reliqui 
eis.  Et  ut  ejusdem  rei  memoria  per  temporalia  saecula 
permanent,  manu  propria  subscribendo  corroboravi  ac 
sigilli  mei  impressione,  ut  infra  videri  potest  insiguiri 
perfeci. 

Data  est  haec  carta  idibus  vSeptembris,  Anno  Dominicae 
Incarnationis  MDXXXIIII  Indict  VII  (mediante  fere 
Januario)  Anno  XII  ex  quo  coepit  praesidere  in  eadem 
civitate  praenominatus  Episcopus,  cujus  est  caracter 
iste.” 

Published  in  Orient  1S42,  p.  391. 


26o 


Old  European  Jewries . ' 

56  <‘Quum  adhuc  terra  Polonica  sit  in  corpore  Christian- 
itatis  nova  plantatio,  ne  forte  eo  facilius  popnlus  Chris- 
tianus  a  cohabientium  Judaeorum  superstitionibus  et 
pravis  moribus  inficiatur  .  .  .  praecipimus,  ut  Judaei  in 
hac  provincia,  Gneznensi  commorantes,  inter  Christian  os 
permixti  non  habitent,  sed  in  aliquo  sequestri  loco  civi- 
tatis  vel  villae  domos  suas  sibi  contiguas  sive  conjunctas 
habeant,  ita  quod  a  communi  habitatione  Christianorum, 
saepe  muro  vel  fossato  habitatio  separatur.” — See 
Stobbe,  Die  Juden  in  Deutschland,  p.  176,  note. 

57“Nec  recipiantur  (Judaei)  alicubi  ultra  mensem  ad 
liabitandum,  nisi  in  locis  in  quibus  habuerintsynagogas.” 
Conciliarum  omnium  generalium  et  provincialium  Col- 
lectio  regia,  Vol.  XXVIII,  p.  783. 

58.  “  Btquod  ad  habitandum  alicubi  ultra  mensem  recipi 
non  deberent  (Judaei),  nisi  in  locis,  in  quibus  obtinent 
synagogas.  Sed  quia  nonnulli  nescientes  a  vetitis  absti- 
nere,  statutum  salubre  praefati  Concilii  (Ravenna  III) 
vilipeudunt,ignorantia  affectata,  poena  docente,  poterunt 
cognoscere,  quam  sit  grave  constitutiones  ecclesiasticos 
praeterire,  ideoque  sacro  approbante  concilio  volentes 
huic  morbo  salubriter  providere,  monemus  omnes  tarn 
clericos  quam  laicos  nostrae  provinciae  atque  statuimus, 
quatenus  nullus  de  cetero  locet  domos  ipsis  Judaeis  nec 
locatas  dimittat,  aut  vendat  seu  quocumque  colore  con- 
cedat,  vel  inhabitare  permittat  ultra  duos  menses  a  publi- 
catione  praesentisconstitutionis.  Quivero  contra  fecerit, 
ipso  facto  excommunicationis  incurrat  sententiam,  a  qua 
absolvi  non  possit,  nisi  plene  satisfecerit  in  praedictis.  ” 
—Ibid.,  Vol.  XXIX,  p.  47. 

59  “  Statuimus  ut  Judaei  et  Saraceni  inter  Cliristianos, 
vel  Christiani  inter  Judaeos,  vel  Saracenos,  domos,  lios- 
pitia  seu  alia  receptacula  in  quibus  habitent,  nullatenus, 
permittantur  habere  ;  sed  in  civitatibus  et  locis  ubi  certae 
limitationes  sunt,  eisdem  Judaeis  et  Saracenis  deputatae, 
reducantur  ad  eas,  et  infra  ipsas  constituant  habitationes 


Notes. 


261 


suas.  Ubi  vero  Judaei  et  Saraceni  praedicti  ad  habitan- 
dum  non  habuerint  hujusmodi  limitationes  seu  tertninos 
deputatos,  limitentur  et  assignentur  eisdem  partes  ali- 
quae  in  civitatibus  et  locis  praedictis  a  Christianorum 
habitationibus  separatae,  infra  quas  reducant  se,  nee  ex¬ 
tra  praedictam  limitationem  permittantur  quomodolibet 
commorari ;  .  .  .  Christiani  autern,  qui  intra  limitationem 
Judaeis  vel  Saracenis,  assignatam  vel  assignandam,  hab- 
itare  praesumpserint,  si  infra  duos  menses  a  die  publica¬ 
tions  praesentium  factae  in  ecclesia  cathedrali  civitatis 
vel  diocesis  ubi  moram  traliunt,  se  ad  commorandum 
inter  Christianos  reducere  non  curaverint,  ad  id  per  cen- 
suram  ecclesiasticam  compellantur.  Judaeis  vero  et  Sar¬ 
acenis,  si  infra  dictum  terminum  duorum  mensium  ubi 
limitatio  est  facta,  vel  postquam  dictae  limitationes  de 
ordinatione  et  voluntate  domini  regis,  vel  cujuscumque 
alterius  domini  ecclesiastici  vel  temporalis  civitatis  vel 
loci  factae  fuerint,  se  ad  easdem  reducere  noluerint  vel 
neglexerint,  Christianorum  communio  subtrahatur.” — 
Ibid.,  Vol.  XXIX,  p.  171. 

60  “  Quorum  (Judaeorum)  ut  evitetur  nimia  conversatio, 
in  aliquibus  civitatum  et  oppidorum  locis  a  Christianorum 
cohabitatione  separatis  habitare  compellantur  et  ab  *eccle- 
siis  longius  quantum  fieri  potest. ”  Ibid.,V ol.  XIV,  p  207. 

C1  “  Vehementer  autem  a  principibus  petimus  ut  in 
singulis  civitatibus  certum  locum  constituant  ubi  Judaei 
separatim  a  Christianis  habitatum  conveniant.  Et,  si 
quas  proprias  aedes  Judaei  in  civitate  liabent,  intra  sex 
menses  eas,  vere,  non  autem  simulato  contracto  Christ¬ 
ianis  vendi  jubeant.” — Ibid Vol.  XXXVI,  p.  137. 

62  H.  Baerwald,  Der  alte  Friedhof  der  israelitischen 
Gemeinde  zu  Frankfurt-am-Main.  Frankfort-on-the 
Main,  1880. 

B.  Bewysohn,  Seclizig  Epitaphieu  von  Grabsteinen  des 
israelitischen  Friedhofes  zu  Worms,  p.  3.  Frankfort-on- 
the-Main,  1855. 


262 


Old  European  Jewries . 

63  See  above,  pp.  67-68. 

64  David  Kaufmann  in  the  introduction  to  S.  Hock,  Die 
Familien  Prags  nach  den  Epitaphien  des  alten  jiidischen 
Friedhofs  in  Prag,  p.  36.  Pressburg,  1892. 

65  See  above,  p.  72. 

66  The  author  of  the  P'ne  Yehoshtiah ,  a  commentary  on 
various  sections  of  the  Talmud,  was  Rabbi  Jacob  Joshua 
Falk,  rabbi  in  Frankfort  from  1741  to  1756  when  he  died. 
On  the  rabbis  of  Frankfort  see  M.  Horowitz,  Frankfur¬ 
ter  Rabbinen.  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  1885. 

67  H.  Baerwald,  Der  alte  Fried hof  der  israelitischen 
Gemeinde  zu  Frankfurt-am-Main,  p.  13. 

68  D.  Podiebrad,  Alterthiimer  der  Prager  Josefstadt,  p. 
131.  Prague,  1882. 

69  Ibid.,  p.  132. 

70  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  VI,  p.  no. 

G.  Wolf,  Die  Juden  (in  the  series,  Die  Volker  Oester- 
reich-Boehmens),  p.  7.  Vienna  and  Teschen,  1883. 

71  Wolf,  Die  Juden,  p.  8. 

72  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  58. 

Wolf,  Die  Juden,  p.  16. 

73  Isaak  Markus  Jost,  Geschichte  der  Israeliten,  Vol. 
VII,  p.  275.  Breslau,  1820. 

74  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  76-78. 

Wolf,  Die  Juden,  p.  17. 

75  See  above,  pp.  62-66. 

On  the  subject  of  the  confiscation  of  Jewish  books,  see: 
A.  Berliner,  Censur  and  Confiscation  hebraischer  Bucher 
im  Kirchenstaate,  Berlin,  1891.  A.  Kisch,  Die  Ankla- 
geartikel  gegen  den  Talmud  and  ilire  Vertheidigung 
durch  Rabbi  Jechiel  ben  Joseph  vor  Ludwig  dem  Heili- 
gen  in  Paris,  in  Graetz-Frankel’s  Monatsschrift  fur 
Geschichte  und  IVissenschaft  des  Judenthums,  Vol. 
XXIII  (1874),  pp.  10-18,  62-75,  123-130,  155-163,  204- 
212.  H.  Graetz,  Aktenstiicke  zur  Confiscation  der  jiidi- 
schen  Schriften  in  Frankfurt-am-Main  unter  Kaiser  Maxi- 


Azotes. 


263 

milian  durch  Pfefferkorn’s  Angeberei,  Ibid.$  Vol.  XXIV 
(1875),  pp.  289-300,  337-343,  385'402.  S.  A.  Hirsch,  John 
Pfefferkorn  and  tlie  Battle  of  the  Books,  in  Jewish  Quar¬ 
terly  Review ,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  256-292.  London,  1892. 

76  K.  Lieben,  Gal  Ed.  Grabsteininscliriften  des  prager 
israelitischen  alten  Friedhofs  (with  notes  by  S.  Hock  and 
introduction  by  S.  L.  Rappoport),  p.  22.  Prague,  1S56. 
This  incident  forms  the  plot  of  S.  Kohn’s  Ghetto  novel, 
Der  Retter.  See  below,  p.  115. 

77  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  X,  p.  29. 

78  A.  Kisch,  Die  Prager  Judenstadtwahrend  der  Schlacht 
am  Weissen  Berge.  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums, 
Vol.  LVI,  p.  400. 

79Jost,  Geschichte  der  Israeliten,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  227. 
Frankel’s  Monatsschrift  fur  Geschichte  und  Wissenschaft 
des  Judenthums ,  Vol.  X  (1861),  p.  2S0. 

80  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  X,  p.  50. 

81  Wolf,  Die  Juden,  p.  31. 

82  Ibid.,  p.  37. 

83  From  1784  to  1849  the  Jewish  community  of  Prague 
had  a  kind  of  special  government,  far  from  autonomous, 
however,  since  its  affairs,  even  in  their  details,  were 
under  the  supervision  of  the  town  magistrate.  The 
Jewish  quarter  remained  distinct  in  one  respect  :  the 
funds  necessary  for  its  administration  had  to  be  raised 
from  among  its  own  inhabitants.  In  1894  even  this  dis¬ 
tinction  disappeared.  The  Judenstadt  became  incorpor¬ 
ated  with  the  rest  of  the  city  in  all  respects.  Since  then 
the  Jewish  community  has  been  a  religious  body  only. 
The  old  Jewish  quarter  is  now  known  as  the  Josef. stadt. 
Podiebrad,  Die  Alterthiimer  der  Prager  Josefstadt,  p.  120. 

84  Wolf,  Die  Juden,  p.  112. 

85  Ibid.,  p.  7,  note. 

In  the  introduction  to  Gal  Ed  mentioned  above  (note  76), 
S.  L.  Rappoport  proves  that  the  stone  supposed  to  date 
from  the  year  606,  and  regarded  as  the  oldest  in  the 


264  Old  European  Jewries . 

cemetery,  really  belongs  to  the  seventeenth  century,  pp. 
XXXVII-XL. 

86  Lieben,  Gal  Ed. 

Hock,  Die  Familien  Prags  nach  den  Epitaphien  des 
alten  jiidisclien  Friedhofs  in  Prag. 

87  Zunz,  Zur  Geschichte  und  Literatur,  p.  395. 

88  A.  Berliner,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Rom,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  5-6.  Frankfort-on-tlie-Main,  1893. 

89  Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  25. 

90  Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  105. 

91  Rodocanachi,  Le  Saint-Siege  et  les  Juifs,  p.  25  ff. 

92  D.  Cassel,  article  “Juden,”  in  Ersch  und  Gruber’s 
Allgemeine  Encyclopadie  (Part  XXVII),  p.  148. 

93  See  above,  p.  27. 

94  F.  Gregorovius,  Wanderjahre  in  Italien,  Vol.  I,  pp. 
103-104.  Leipsic,  1876-1881. 

95  Quoted  in  Rodocanachi,  Le  Saint-Siege  et  les  Juifs, 
p.  60. 

96  Berliner,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Rom,  Vol.  II,  Pt. 
II,  p.  13. 

97  Rodocanachi,  Le  Saint-Siege  et  les  Juifs,  p.  2.  So, 
for  example,  Alexander  III  (1159-1181)  said  that  Jews 
were  to  be  tolerated  “  pro  sola  humanitate,”  “on  account 
ofliumanity  alone,”  and  Clement  III  (1187-1191),  “  ex 
vera  gratia  etmisericordia,”  “  from  real  mercy  and  pity.” 

M.  Giidemann,  Geschichte  des  Erziehungswesens  und 
der  Cultur  der  Juden  in  Italien  wahrend  des  Mittelalters, 
Vol.  II,  p.  76.  Vienna,  1884. 

98  See  on  this  point,  Berliner,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in 
Rom,  Vol.  II,  Pt.  I,  p.  34. 

99  Cassel,  article  “Juden,”  in  Ersch  und  Gruber’s 
Encyclopadie,  p.  148,  notes. 

100  See  Ludwig  August  Frankl’s  poem,  Tourist  und 
Cicerone  am  Titusbogen  in  Rom,  Ahnenbilder,  p.  93. 
But  Berliner,  in  his  lately  published  work,  Geschichte 
der  Juden  in  Rom,  Vol.  I,  p.  40,  states  that  this  tradition 


Notes. 


265 


is  unknown  among  the  Jews  of  Rome. 

101  Rodocanachi,  Re  Saint-Siege  et  les  Juifs,  p.  205  ff. 

102Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  Vol.  IX,  pp  501-502. 

103  Gregorovius,  Wanderjahre  in  Italien,  Vol.  I,  p.  99. 

104 Ibid.,  p.  100. 

lff5Cassel,  article  “Juden,”  in  Ersch  und  Gruber’s 
Encyclopadie,  p.  148. 

Archibalb  Bower,  History  of  the  Popes,  Vol.  II,  p.  464 
Philadelphia,  1844-1845. 

106  Giidemann,  Geschichte  des  Erzichungswesens  und 
der  Cultur  der  Juden  in  Italien,  Vol.  II,  p.  77. 

107  Gregorovius,  Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Mittelal- 
ter  vom  fiinften  bis  zuin  sechzehnten  Jahrhundert,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  396.  Stuttgart,  1869-1873. 

108Cassel,  article  “Juden,”  in  Erscli  und  Gruber’s 
Encyclopadie,  p.  148. 

109  Bower,  History  of  the  Popes,  Vol.  II,  p.  464. 

no  p£rierj  Historisch-kritisclie  Uebersicht  der  national- 
okonomischen  und  social-politisclien  Literatur,  p.  389. 

111  Bower,  History  of  the  Popes,  Vol.  II,  p.  470. 

112  Berliner,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Rom,  Vol.  II,  p.  39. 

113  Rodocanachi,  Re  Saint-Siege  et  les  Juifs,  p.  284. 

114  Ibid.,  p.  285. 

115 Ibid.,  p.  301. 

116 Ibid.,  p.  306. 

117  Gregorovius,  Wanderjahre  in  Italien,  Vol.  I,  p.  100. 

118  Before  the  institution  of  the  Ghetto,  there  were  a 
number  of  synagogues  in  different  portions  of  the  city. 
Berliner,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Rom,  Vol.  II,  pp.  12-13. 

119  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  107. 

120  A  thorough  discussion  of  the  origin  and  history  of 
the  blood  accusation  may  be  found  in  Prof.  Hermann  R. 
Strack,  Der  Aberglaube  in  der  Menschheit,  Blut-Morde 
und  Blut-Ritus.  Munich,  1892. 

121  In  1886.  vSee  Berliner,  Aus  den  letzten  Tagen  des 
romischen  Ghetto,  p.  8. 


266 


Old  European  Jewries. 

122  The  Persecution  of  the  Jews  in  Russia,  p.  5.  Lon¬ 
don,  1891.  Report  of  the  Russo-Jewish  Committee, 

123  Leo  Brrera,  Les  Juifs  Russes,  Extermination  ou 
Emancipation  ?  p.  18.  Brussels,  1893. 

These  May  laws  were  certainly  inhuman,  but  in  the 
spring  of  1894  the  special  commission  appointed  to’  in¬ 
quire  into  the  Jewish  question  recommended  to  the 
authorities  at  St.  Petersburg  a  number  of  provisions,  com¬ 
pared  with  which  the  May  laws  of  1882  seem  only  a  be¬ 
ginning.  These  provisions,  as  reported  in  the  press,  are 
as  follows  : 

To  forbid  the  Jews  from  residing  in  those  places  where 
the  real  estate  is  the  property  of  the  peasantry. 

To  banish  from  the  villages  of  the  western  district  all 
those  Jews  who  have  attained  their  majority  since  the 
passing  of  the  May  laws  of  1882;  and  to  forbid  all  Jews, 
as  soon  as  they  have  attained  their  majority,  from  tak¬ 
ing  up  their  residence  iu  villages  that  belong  to  the 
peasantry. 

To  extend  to  all  the  Polish  districts  those  provisions  of 
the  May  laws  of  1882  which  prohibit  Jews  from  settling 
outside  the  towns  as  well  as  from  acquiring  property  in 
land. 

To  enact  that  all  those  Jews  who  do  not  act  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  restrictive  laws  concerning  residence  in 
the  western  provinces  (districts  of  the  Pale  of  Settlement 
and  of  Poland)  are  to  be  subjected  to  a  special  punish¬ 
ment  of  four  months’  imprisonment  in  addition  to  trans¬ 
port  by  etape. 

To  institute  special  supervision  over  those  Jews  who, 
according  to  the  new  laws,  have  the  right  to  sojourn  in 
the  villages.  This  supervision  is  to  be  entrusted  to  the 
village  police,  who  are  to  draw  up  complete  lists  of 
Jews  coming  under  this  category.  These  lists  are  to  be 
kept  in  the  government  offices  and  to  be  open  for  gen¬ 
eral  inspection,  and  the  bureau  is  to  have  the  right  of 


Notes.  .  267 

* 

expelling  from  the  hamlets  and  villages  any  Jews  who 
may  be  considered  open  to  suspicion. 

To  restrict  throughout  the  whole  empire  the  rights  of 
the  Jews  in  reference  to  the  purchase  of  real  estate. 

To  revoke  that  law  which  allows  Jewish  mechanics, 
doctors  and  assistants,  dentists,  and  wet-nurses  to  settle 
in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

To  forbid  the  Jews  from  entering  the  provinces  of  the 
interior  in  order  to  learn  pharmaceutical  chemistry, 
medicine,  and  dentistry. 

To  expel  from  the  districts  of  the  interior  all  apothe¬ 
caries,  medical  assistants,  and  wet-nurses  of  the  Jewish 
religion  who  now  reside  there. 

To  institute  a  special  punishment,  in  addition  to  trans¬ 
port  by  etape ,  for  all  those  Jews  who  may  offend  against 
the  above  laws  concerning  sojourn  in  the  districts  of  the 
interior. 

At  the  time  of  writing,  it  is  not  known  whether  or  not 
these  recommendations  have  been  adopted. 

124  The  Persecution  of  the  Jews  in  Russia,  pp.  7-8. 

125  Harold  Frederic,  The  New  Exodus.  A  Study  of 
Israel  in  Russia,  pp.  260-261.  New  York,  1892. 

126  Errera,  Les  Juifs  Russes,  pp.  68-69. 

127 Ibid.,  p.  83. 

128  Hall  Caine,  “  Scenes  on  the  Russian  Frontier.  ”  Ton- 
don  Jewish  Chronicle ,  December  10,  1892. 

129  Frederic,  The  New  Exodus,  p.  164. 

13°  Nicolas  de  Gradowsky,  La  Situation  Legale  des 
Israelites  en  Russie,  Vol.  I,  p.  326  ff.  Paris,  1891. 

131  Frederic,  The  New  Exodus,  p.  224. 

132  The  Persecution  of  the  Jews  in  Russia,  p.  20. 

133Anatole  Leroy  Beaulieu,  Les  Juifs  Russes  et  leur 

Ghetto,  in  Les  Juifs  de  Russie,  Recueil  d’Articles  et  d’ 
Etudes  sur  leur  Situation  Legale,  Sociale  et  Economique. 
Paris,  1891. 

134  See  PJrrera,  Les  Juifs  Russes,  pp.  162-177. 


268 


Old  European  Jezvrics. 

1:55  Charles  G.  Iceland  is  said  to  have  such  a  work  in 
preparation. 

136Zunz,  Die  gottesdienstliclien  Vortriige  der  Juden,  pp. 

453-457- 

Giidemann,  Gescliiclite  des  Erziehuugsweseus  und  der 
Cultur  der  Juden  in  Deutschland,  walirend  des  vierzehnten 
und  des  fiinfzehnten  Jalirhunderts,  p.  280  ff.  Vienna, 
1888. 

See  also  an  article  on  ‘‘  The  Jargon,”  by  D.  N.  Dembitz 
in  The  American  Hebrew  (New  York),  May  6,  1892. 

137 1.  Zangwill,  Children  of  the  Ghetto,  Vol.  I,  p.  6. 
Philadelphia,  1892. 

138 Judaism  at  the  World’s  Parliament  of  Religions, 
passim.  Cincinnati,  1894. 

139  See  the  author’s  Jew  in  English  Fiction,  p.  8  ff . 
Cincinnati,  1889. 

140  David  Einhorn,  Sinai ,  Vol.  VI,  p.  1S6. 

141  Eeopold  Kompert,  Gesammelte  Schrifteu,  Vol.  I,  p. 

11.  Eeipsic,  1887.  . 

142  Ibid. ,  Vol.  IV,  p.  4S. 

143  Ibid.y  Vol.  I,  p.  246. 

144  Ibid.,  Vol.  V,  pp.  1-57. 

145 Ibid.,  Vol.  V,  p.  62. 

146 Ibid.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  82. 

147 Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  220. 

148 Ibid.)  Vol.  IV,  p.  202. 

149  Adolpli  Kohut,  The  Ghetto  Novel  and  its  Represen¬ 
tatives.  The  Menorah  Monthly  (New  York),  Vol.  IV, 

P-  351- 

150  The  English  translation  appeared  in  The  Jezvish  Re- 
former  (New  York).  January  to  June,  1886. 

151  January  8  to  February  5,  1892. 


I  N  D  E  X  . 


“A  Flower,”  novel  by  Or- 
zeszko,  249. 

Agobard  (bishop)  attacks 
Jews,  12. 

Agriculture  advocated  by 
Kompert,  242-243. 
for  Russian  Jews,  212-213. 

Alexander  II  (Tzar)  per¬ 
mits  Jews  to  dwell  be¬ 
yond  the  Pale,  179. 

Alexander  III  (pope)  quot¬ 
ed,  264. 

welcomed  by  Jews,  138- 
139- 

Alexander  VII  (pope)  favors 
converted  Jews,  133- 134. 
a  decree  by,  159. 

Alexandria,  Jews  settle  in, 
5- 

Alt- Nen  Syncigoge  at 
Prague,  103-109. 

Amolo  (bishop)  attacks 
Jews,  12. 

“Amongst  Ruins,”  novel 
by  Kompert,  231,  244. 

Amsterdam,  the  largest  Jew¬ 
ish  community,  101. 

Anacletus  II,  pope  of  Jew¬ 
ish  descent,  147-151. 

Ancona,  Jews  permitted  to 
live  in,  129,  131. 

Anti-Jewish  laws  in  Russia, 
179  ff,  266-267. 

Anti-Semitism,  charges  of, 
211-212. 


Antokolsky  not  permitted 
in  St.  Petersburg,  190. 

Artisans,  definition  of,  184. 

live  outside  of  Pale,  179. 

Russian  regulations  about, 
187. 

Ascoli,  Davidd’,  defends  the 
Jews,  124. 

Asia  Minor,  Jews  settle  in 
cities  of,  5. 

Astrakhan,  Jews  excluded 
from,  178. 

“At  the  Plough,”  novel  by 
Kompert,  231,  243. 

Auerbach,  Berthold,  novel¬ 
ist,  224,  227. 

Austria,  Ghettos  established 
.  in>  30- 

Avignon,  Jews  permitted  to 
live  in,  131. 

Baden,  Jewish  trade  socie¬ 
ties  in,  210. 

Baltic  Provinces,  Jews  ex¬ 
cluded  from  the,  178. 

Basle,  decree  of  council  of, 
44- 

Jews  of,  sold  to  the 
bishop,  16. 

Bassewi,  Jacob,  of  Prague,  94. 

Bavaria,  Jewish  trade  so¬ 
cieties  in,  210. 

Belgium,  Jews  settle  in,  9. 

Benedict  VIII  (pope)  gives 
a  charter  to  the  Jews  of 
Rome,  122. 


(269) 


2/0 


Old  European  Jewries. 


Benedict  XIV  (pope)  ex¬ 
tends  the  privileges  of 
the  Jews,  161. 

Beneventum,  Ghetto  estab¬ 
lished  at,  27. 

Berditchev,  effect  of  May 
laws  upon,  182-183. 

Berliner,  A.,  quoted,  24-25. 

Bernstein,  Aaron,  novelist, 
198,  224.  * 

novels  of,  characterized, 
224-225. 

quoted,  225-226. 

Beschau ,  a  Ghetto  custom, 
229. 

Bessarabia,  Jews  excluded 
from,  178. 

Bibliotheca  Oppenheim  at 
the  Bodleian,  114. 

Black  Death  imputed  to 
Jews,  47. 

Blood-accusation  described 
by  Heine,  222-223. 

history  of,  265. 

Bohemia,  early  settlement 
of  Jew7s  in,  84-85. 

Ghettos  established  in,  30. 

Jew  tax  in,  99. 

“  Bohemian  Jews,”  stories 
by  Kompert,  231. 

Borne,  Ludwig,  in  the 
Frankfort  Ghetto,  76. 

Borne  Strasse,  a  street  of 
the  Frankfort  Ghetto, 
76. 

Bornheimer  Strasse,  a  street 
of  the  Frankfort  Ghetto, 
72,  75- 

Breslau,  decree  of  council 
of,  39-40. 

Bukowina,  scene  of  Fran¬ 
zes’ s  novels,  245. 

Bulls  (papal),  123,  130,  131, 
143- 144,  155. 

Caraffa,  see  Paul  IV. 


Calixtus  II,  first  pope  wel¬ 
comed  by  Jews,  138. 

Canon  laws  (English)  lay 
restrictions  on  Jews,  11. 

Carben,  Victor  von,  exam¬ 
ines  Hebrew  books,  65. 

Carnival,  Roman  Jews  take 
part  in  the,  141. 

Carriera ,  Provencal  name 
for  Ghetto,  20. 

Castro,  Ghetto  established 
at,  28. 

Cemetery  at  Frankfort,  76- 
80. 

at  Prague,  109-117. 

“Children  of  the  Ghetto, 
The,”  novel  by  Zang- 
will,  249-250. 

Christian  prejudices,  201- 
202. 

Christians  separated  from 
Jews,  21-22. 

Church  Councils,  decrees  of, 
7,  20,  39-45. 

Clement  III  (pope)  quoted, 
264. 

Clement  VIII  (pope)  ex¬ 
pels  the  Jews,  130-131. 

Clement  IX  (pope)  frees 
the  Jews  from  participa¬ 
tion  in  the  races,  142. 

Cologne,  Jews’  quarter  es¬ 
tablished  at,  28-29. 

Jews  settle  in,  10. 

Confiscation  of  Hebrew 
books,  64,  92. 

literature  on,  262-263. 

“Confessions  of  the  Jews, 
The,”  pamphlet  by 
Pfefferkorn,  62. 

Conrad  III  (emperor)  pro¬ 
tects  Jews  of  Nurem¬ 
berg,  14. 

Conversion  of  Jews  at 
Rome,  143-156. 


Index .  2  7 1 


Cosmas  (bishop)  preaches 
against  the  crusades, 
87. 

Croyland,  possessions  of 
monks  of,  11. 

Crusaders  attack  the  Jews 
of  Prague,  87. 

Crusades,  Jews  during  the, 
12-13.  * 

Cunigunda  encourages  Pfef- 
ferkorn,  62-63. 

Dalberg,  Karl  Theodor  von, 
improves  the  Frankfort 
Ghetto,  73. 

Dance  house  in  the  Ghetto, 
33- 

Del  Medigo,  Joseph,  Jew¬ 
ish  scholar,  114. 

Depping,  G.  B.,  quoted,  6. 

Der  Primator,  poem  by  I,. 
A.  F'rankl,  245. 

Der  Rabbi  von  Bacharach, 
fragment  by  Heine,  222. 

Der  Sinai  (magazine), 
quoted,  224-225. 

“Der  Retter,  ”  novel  by  S. 
Kolin,  263. 

Der  unbekannte  Rabbi , 
novel  by  Phoebus  Phil- 
ippson,  245. 

Dichter  uncL  Kaufmann , 
novel  by  Auerbach,  224. 

Die  Jahrzeit ,  novel  by 
Kompert,  233-240. 

Dominicans  employ  Pfeffer- 
korn,  61. 
ridiculed,  65. 

Dorn  Pedro  issues  a  Ghetto 
regulation,  26. 

Dorfgeher,  a  Ghetto  char¬ 
acter,  229. 

Bast,  Ghettos  established  in 
the,  30. 

Einhorn,  Dr.  David,  quoted, 
224-225. 


Ekaterinoslav  open  to  Jews, 
178. 

“  Eneinj/of  the  Jews,  The,” 
pamphlet  by  Pfeifer- 
korn,  62. 

Egbert  (archbishop)  collects 
English  canon  laws,  11. 

Egypt,  Jews  settle  in  cities 
of,  5- 

England,  first  notices  of 
Jews  in,  10-11. 

Epistle  to  the  Romans,  quot¬ 
ed,  6,  7. 

Epistolce  Obscurorum  Vir- 
orum ,  satire,  65. 

Erfurt,  right  of  taxation  of 
Jews  of,  16-17. 

Eugenius  III  (pope)  wel¬ 
comed  by  Jews,  138. 

Falk,  Jacob  Joshua,  rabbi 
at  Frankfort,  262. 

Ferdinand  I  (emperor)  ex¬ 
pels  the  Jews  from 
Prague,  93. 

Ferdinand  II  (emperor) 
makes  the  Prague 
Ghetto  independent, 
102- 103. 

relieves  the  Jews  of  Prague 
from  unjust  taxes,  96. 

Ferdinand  III  (emperor)  in¬ 
creases  the  privileges  of 
the  Jews  of  Prague,  98. 

Ferrara,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

Fettmilch,  Vincent,  a  festi¬ 
val  named  for  him,  69. 
attacks  the  Frankfort . 
Ghetto,  67. 

Finland,  Jews  excluded 
from,  178. 

Flagellants  calumniate 
Jews,  47. 

Florence,  Ghetto  estab¬ 
lished  at,  27. 


272  Old  European  Jewries . 


Formstecher,  S.,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Frankfort  buys  the  right  to 
tax  Jews,  46. 

Ghetto  of,  abandoned,  75; 
attacked  by  Fettmilch, 
67-69;  cemetery  of  the, 
76-80;  construction  of 
the  houses  in  the,  80-81 ; 
description  and  regula¬ 
tions  of  the,  56-60;  de¬ 
stroyed,  69-70;  estab¬ 
lished,  29,  49;  establish¬ 
ment  of  the,  decreed, 
50;  improved,  71,  73; 
occupied,  54 ;  owner¬ 
ship  of  the  houses  in  the, 
55;  reasons  for  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  the,  50;  signs 
on  the  houses  of  the,  72; 
situation  of  the,  51. 

guilds  hostile  to  Jews, 

66. 

Jewish  trade  societies  in, 
22. 

Jews  of,  bought  by  the 
emperor,  68-69 ;  cele¬ 
brate  Purim  Fettmilch, 
69;  civil  and  political 
status  of,  48-51. 

Jews  settle  in,  46. 

re-admits  Jews,  47-48. 

Frankl,  Ludwig  August, 
Ghetto  poet,  245,  264. 

Franzos,  Karl  Emil,  Ghetto 
novelist,  198,  245-247. 

quoted,  30,  230. 

Frederick  II  (emperor)  in¬ 
stitutes  the  Salerno 
Ghetto,  27. 

Frederick  III  (emperor)  in¬ 
stitutes  the  Frankfort 
Ghetto,  50. 

protects  the  Jews  of  Ratis- 
bon,  15, 


Frederick  Barbarossa  (em¬ 
peror)  institutes  imper¬ 
ial  protection  of  Jews, 
14. 

Gabriel ,  Ghetto  novel,  245. 

Galicia,  scene  of  Franzos’s 
novels,  245  ;  of  Sacher- 
Masoch’s  novels,  248. 

Gans,  David,  Jewish  his¬ 
torian,  114. 

Gaul,  settlement  of  J ews  in,  9. 

Genoa,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

Genoa,  Ghettos  established 
in,  30. 

Germany,  restrictions  laid 
upon  Jews  of,  28. 

Ghetto  {see  under  Frank¬ 
fort,  Prague,  Rome, 
Russia,  etc.) 
characters,  228-229. 
customs,  229. 
dance  house  in  the,  33. 
establishment  of  the,  25- 
30-  . 

inhabitants  described  by 
Kompert,  232. 

Italian  name  for  Jews’ 
quarter,  20. 

life  described  by  Kom¬ 
pert,  231-232 ;  effects  of, 
apparent  now,  199-200 ; 
legitimate  subject  for 
fiction,  220. 

novelists,  198,245,248-250. 
novels,  222,  224-226,  229, 
231,  233-240,  242-244, 

245-250,  263. 

Ghetto,  the,  perpetuated  in 
literature,  220. 
the,  produces  a  peculiar 
language,  198 ;  isola¬ 
tion,  21  ;  peculiar  cus¬ 
toms,  197-198;  virtues, 
216. 


Index. 


Ghetto,  brothels  transferred 
to  the,  30. 

voluntary,  22-23,  200-201, 
217-219. 

Goldschmidt,  M.,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Golem ,  figure  made  by  the 
Hohe  Rabbi  Low ,  113. 

Graetz,  quoted,  8,  14. 

Great  Russia,  Jews  ex¬ 
cluded  from,  178. 

Gregory  XIII  (pope)  com¬ 
pels  Jews  to  listen  to 
sermons,  1 43-144. 
permits  Jews  to  return  to 
the  Papal  States,  130. 

Grodno  open  to  Jews,  178. 

Guilds  exclude  Jews,  203. 
hostile  to  Jews,  66. 

Hamburg,  Jewish  trade  so¬ 
cieties  in,  210. 

Heine,  Heinrich,  first  Ghetto 
novelist,  222. 
quoted,  222,  223. 

Hendel,  wife  of  Jacob  Bas- 
sewi,  115. 

Henry  IV  (emperor)  pro¬ 
tects  Jews,  14. 

Herzberg-Frankel,  Leo, 
Ghetto  novelist,  245. 

Hessen,  Jewish  trade  so¬ 
cieties  in,  210. 

Hoch  Synagoge  attached  to 
the  Prague  town  hall, 
102. 

Hohe  Rabbi  Lozu,  chief 
rabbi  of  Prague,  113- 
114. 

Hoogstrateu,  Jacob  van, 
grand  inquisitor,  62. 
examines  Hebrew  books, 

64. 

Horowitz,  Dr.  M.,  collector 
of  Frankfort  epitaphs, 
77- 

18 


Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  author 
of  Epistolce  Obscuro- 
rum  Virorum ,  65. 

IgnatiefF  inspires  the  Rus¬ 
sian  anti-Jewish  laws, 

IT?- 

Illiberis,  decree  of  council 
of,  7-8. 

Intermarriage  treated  by 
Franzos,  247. 

Innocent  II  (pope)  wel¬ 
comed  by  Jews,  138. 

Innocent  III  (pope)  limits 
the  trades  of  the  Jews, 
161. 

Innocent  IV  (pope)  forbids 
forcible  conversions,  89. 

Innocent  VIII  (pope) 
shields  the  Roman 
Jews,  140. 

Jahrbuch  fur  Israeliten , 
Vienna  publication,  231. 

Jerusalem  destroyed  by 
Romans,  5. 

Jew  badges  abolished  at 
Rome,  160. 

decreed  by  Church 
councils,  20. 

devised  by  Innocent  III, 
20. 

Jewesses,  beauty  of,  223. 

“Jewish  heart,”  described 
by  Kompert,  240-241. 

Jew  quarters,  names  for, 
20. 

Jews  {see  under  the  various 
cities ,  countries ,  etc.) 
as  artisans,  206,  208-209; 
farmers,  206,210;  jour¬ 
nalists,  214;  manufac¬ 
turers,  210;  vinegrow- 
ers,  206. 

abhor  murder,  216. 
absorbed  in  Rabbinical 
dialectics,  195. 


274  Old  European  Jewries. 


Jews  attacked  by  bishops  of 
Lyons,  12. 

Black  Death  imputed  to, 
47- 

carried  to  Rome  by  Pom- 
pey,  5- 

charged  with  blasphemy, 
90-91. 

condition  of,  improved  by 
Joseph  II,  100. 
consumers,  202-203. 
converted,  favored,  133- 
134- 

deported  by  Titus,  6. 
descended  from  Van- 
giones,  9. 

disabilities  of,  removed, 
211. 

during  the  crusades,  12-13. 
emancipated  in  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century,  209. 
excluded  from  guilds, 
203  ;  from  trades,  206. 
family  life  of,  196-197. 
form  trade  societies,  210. 
forbidden  to  appear  dur¬ 
ing  Holy  Week,  89. 
forced  to  adopt  commerce, 
204-205. 

granted  to  the  Duke  of 
Austria,  257. 

isolated  by  Ghettos,  21-22. 
liberality  of,  201-202. 
mentioned  in  the  Theo- 
dosian  Code,  8-9. 
Merovingians  hostile  to, 
12. 

morality  of,  196,  216. 
protected  against  exces¬ 
sive  taxation,  15. 
protected  by  Conrad  III, 
14 ;  by  the  emperors, 
14-15- 

protest  against  the  confis¬ 
cation  of  their  books, 64.  1 


Jews,  restricted  to  certain 
trades,  207  ;  by  English 
canon  laws,  11. 

separated  from  Christ¬ 
ians,  21-22. 

settlements  of,  5,  9,  10, 
84-85. 

show  effect  of  Ghetto  life, 
194. 

sold,  16. 

stunted  by  exclusion, 
T95- 

successful  at  the  univer¬ 
sities  and  in  the  profes¬ 
sions,  213-214. 

trained  by  Talmud 
studies,  195,  214. 

unpleasant  traits  of,  due 
to  persecution,  194. 

Visigothic  kings  hostile 
to,  12. 

Jew  tax  in  Bohemia,  99. 

Josefstadt,  name  of  Prague 
Ghetto,  82,  263. 

Joseph  II  (emperor)  im¬ 
proves  the  condition  of 
the  Jews,  100. 

Journalism,  Jews  successful 
in,  214. 

Joao  I,  of  Portugal,  issues 
Ghetto  regulations,  26. 

JudcEOS  habere ,  right  of 
residence,  17-18. 

Judah  ben  Bezalel,  chief 
rabbi  of  Prague,  113-1 14. 

J ud eng  ar ten,  name  of 
Prague  cemetery,  109. 

Judengasse ,  German  name 
for  Ghetto,  20. 

Ghetto  atUeberlingen,  29. 

Jndenordn  ungen ,  decrees 
concerning  Jews  of 
Frankfort,  48-50. 

Judenspiegel ,  pamphlet  by 
Pfefferkorn,  62. 


Index . 


Judenstadt ,  name  of  Prague 
Ghetto,  82. 

J udenstrasse ,  German  name 
for  Ghetto,  20. 

Judenviertel ,  German  name 
for  Ghetto,  20. 

Judex  Judceorum ,  appoint¬ 
ed  by  Ottokar  II,  101. 

Judiaria ,  Portuguese  name 
for  Ghetto,  20,  26. 

J udisch-deutsch  ( j  argon ) , 
analyzed  by  Zunz,  198- 
1 99- 

work  on,  268. 

Judith  Trachtenberg ,  novel 
by  Franzos,  246-247. 

Juiveries ,  French  name  for 
Ghetto,  20. 

Julius  III  (pope)  imposes  a 
tax  011  the  Jews  of 
Rome,  155. 

Jus  gazzaga,  rent  law  in 
the  Roman  Ghetto,  133- 
135. 

Kaddish  described,  237-240. 

Kazan,  Jews  excluded  from, 
178. 

Kherson  open  to  Jews, 
178. 

Kiev  (city),  Jewish  artisans 
ejected  from,  187. 

Jews  excluded  from,  178. 

Kiev  (province)  open  to 
Jews,  J  78- 

Klapp,  Michael,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Kolien,  Mordecai  Zemach, 
averts  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jews  from  Prague, 
93.  Ir5- 

Kohn,  S.,  Ghetto  novelist, 
198,  245,  263. 

Kompert,  Leopold,  Ghetto 
novelist,  198,  226-245. 

Kowuo  opeu  to  Jews,  178. 


Kulke  Edward,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Landau,  R.  Samuel,  of 
Prague,  no-in. 

Lateran  council  (Fourth), 
decrees  Jew  badges,  20. 

Lehmann,  M., Ghetto  novel¬ 
ist,  245. 

Leland,  Chas.  G.,  writer  on 
the  Jewish  jargou,  268. 

Lemberg,  birthplace  of 
Sacher-Masoch,  248. 

Leo  X  (pope)  improves  the 
Roman  Ghetto,  161-162. 
revives  compulsory  ser¬ 
mons  for  Jews,  145. 

Lewald,  Fanny,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Libau  open  to  Jews,  179. 

Lisbon,  Ghettos  of,  26. 

Lunga  Spina,  Ghetto  island 
at  Venice,  27. 

Magdeburg,  Jews  settle  in, 
10. 

Mantua,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

Maria  Theresa  (empress), 
decrees  the  expulsion  of 
the  Bohemian  Jews,  99. 
imposes  an  annual  Jew 
tax,  99. 

Maximilian  (emperor),  or¬ 
ders  the  confiscation  of 
Hebrew  books,  63,  64. 

Mayence,  Jews  settle  in,  10. 

May  laws  (Russian)  cause 
overcrowded  cities,  181, 
182-183. 

depose  Ignatieff,  182. 
comments  on,  by  the  Lon¬ 
don  committee,  180-181. 
inspired  by  Ignatieff,  179. 
prevent  Jews  from  leading 
a  rural  life,  i8r. 
provisions  of  the,  180. 


Old  European  Jewries. 


276 

Meier  Esofowics,  novel  by 
Orzeszko,  248-249. 

Meisel,  Mordecai,  builds 
town-hall  at  Prague,  102. 

philanthropic  work  of,  94, 
TI3- 

Mendel  Gibbor,  novel  by 
Bernstein,  224. 

Mendelssohn,  Moses,  quot¬ 
ed,  203. 

treated  as  an  alien,  21 1. 

Merovingian  kings  hostile 
to  Jews,  12. 

Merseburg,  Jews  settle  in,  10. 

Milan,  decree  of  council  of, 
44-45- 

Min,  Ghetto  character,  228. 

Minsk  open  to  Jews,  178. 

Moschita  Court  at  Palermo, 
28. 

Moscow,  artisans  ejected 
from,  187. 

Mosenthal,  S.  H.,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Miinchengratz,  birthplace 
of  Kompert,  227. 

Naples,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

“New  Stories  from  the 
Ghetto,”  novels  by 
Kompert,  231. 

Nikolaiev,  Jews  excluded 
from,  178. 

Nuremberg,  Ghetto  estab¬ 
lished  at,  29. 

Jews  find  refuge  in,  14; 
settle  in,  10. 

Odessa,  artisans  ejected 
from,  187. 

Ohne  Bewilligung ,  novel 
by  Kompert,  229. 

Oppenheim,  David,  chief 
rabbi  of  Prague,  114. 

Ordo  Romanus ,  quoted, 
139. 


Orzeszko,  Miss  E.  P.,  Ghet¬ 
to  novelist,  248-249. 

Ottokar  II  makes  the  Jews 
of  Prague  autonomous, 

IOT. 

Pale  of  Settlement,  the 
(Russia),  composed  of 
fifteen  gubernia,  178. 
description  of,  191-192. 
Jews  excluded  from  the 
cities  of,  178;  expelled 
from,  188. 

rights  of  Jews  within,  190. 
number  of  Jews  in,  188. 
treatment  of  dwellers  in, 
185-186. 

Palermo,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27-28. 

Papal  States,  Jews  expelled 
from  the,  129,  13 1  ;  per¬ 
mitted  to  return  to  the, 
130. 

Paul  (apostle)  mentions 
Jews  of  Spain,  6-7. 

Paul  II  (pope)  institutes 
carnival  races,  141. 

Paul  IV  Carafifa  (pope), 
death  of,  126. 
establishes  the  Roman 
Ghetto,  27,  44,  122-124. 

Pennell  quoted,  183. 

Pesach  (Peter)  charges  Jews 
with  blasphemy,  90-91. 

Pfefferkorn,  John,  endang¬ 
ers  the  Jewish  commu¬ 
nity  of  Frankfort,  61-66. 

Pliilippson,  Ludwig,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Pliilippson,  Phoebus,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Phthisis,  Jews  suffer  from, 
186. 

“Pictures  of  Jewish  Life 
in  Galicia,”  novel  by 
Samuely,  245. 


Index . 


2  77 


Pierleoni,  a  distinguished 
Roman  family  of  con¬ 
verts,  147-150. 

PH  Operai,  agents  for  the 
conversion  of  Jews,  156. 

Pisa,  Ghetto  established  at, 
27. 

Pius  IV  (pope)  absolves  Em¬ 
peror  Ferdinand  from 
his  oath,  93. 

council  of  Milan  held 
under,  44. 

permits  Jews  to  put  off 
Jew  badges,  127. 

regulates  rents  in  the 
Ghetto,  128. 

treats  Jew’s  kindly, 127-128. 

Pius  V  (pope)  confiscates 
the  property  of  the 
Jews,  129. 

expels  Jews  from  the 
Papal  States,  1 29-1 30. 

issues  Ghetto  regulations, 
1 29-1 30. 

revokes  the  concessions  of 
Pius  IV,  128-129. 

Pius  VI  ( pope)  restricts 
the  liberties  of  the  Jews, 
158-160. 

Pius  VII  (pope)  kindly  dis¬ 
posed  to  Jews,  160. 

made  prisoner,  160. 

returns  to  Rome,  161. 

Pius  IX  (pope),  abolishes 
the  sermons  for  Jewrs, 
145- . 

demolishes  the  walls  of 
the  Roman  Ghetto,  162- 

i63; 

reactionary  policy  of,  163. 

removes  an  indignity  from 
the  Jews,  143. 

P'ne  Yehoshuah ,  a  cele¬ 
brated  Jewish  work,  79. 

author  of,  262. 


Pobiedonostseff  influences 
the  Tzar  against  the 
Jews,  182. 

Podolia  open  to  Jews,  178. 

“  Poet  of  the  Ghetto,” 
Leopold  Kompert,  226. 

Poland,  Jewish  life  in,  de¬ 
scribed  by  Sacher-Ma- 
soch,  248. 

Jews  of,  engaged  in  trades, 
208. 

Poltava  open  to  Jews,  178. 

Pomerania,  Jewish  trade  so¬ 
cieties  in,  210. 

Pompey,  first  Roman  gener¬ 
al  to  enter  Jerusalem,  5. 

Pons  JudcBorum ,  a  bridge 
at  Rome,  121. 

Porta  Jzidceorum,  gate  at  Col¬ 
ogne,  28  ;  at  Worms.  29. 

Portugal,  Ghettos  establish¬ 
ed  in,  25-27. 

Propugnaculum  Judceo- 
rum ,  redoubt  at  Col¬ 
ogne,  28. 

Prague,  Ghetto  of,  Alt-Neu 
Synagoge  in  the,  103- 
109 ;  books  confiscated 
in  the,  92  ;  burnt,  92-93, 
98  ;  ceases  to  be  com¬ 
pulsory,  109-117  ;  courts 
of  the,  103  ;  description 
of  the,  82-84,  101  I  gov¬ 
ernment  of  the,  ior-102, 
203;  guarded,  95;  Hoch- 
Synagoge  in  the,  102; 
made  independent,  103  ; 
name  of  the,  82  ;  pillag¬ 
ed,  94-95  ;  president  of 
the,  102;  rabbinical  jur¬ 
isdiction  of  the,  abolish¬ 
ed,  103  ;  restrictive  reg¬ 
ulations  in  the,  92; 
town-hall  in  the,  T02- 
103. 


278  Old  European  Jew  ides. 


Prague,  Jews  of,  alleged  de¬ 
secration  of  host  by,  87- 
89  ;  attacked  by  crusad¬ 
ers, 87;  freed  from  unjust 
taxes,  96  ;  gather  in  the 
Judenstadt ,  85  ;  guard 
the  city  against  Swedes, 
97  ;  last  expulsion  of, 
99  ;  loyal  to  the  imper¬ 
ial  house,  95  ;  made  au¬ 
tonomous,  1 01  ;  ordered 
to  leave  the  city,  93 ; 
privileged,  98 ;  re¬ 
warded  for  fidelity,  97- 
98 ;  saved  from  expul¬ 
sion,  93,  1 15. 

Purim,  instituted  during 
the  Thirty  Years’  War, 
95_96- 

Predica  coattiva,  conver- 
sionist  sermon  for  Jews, 
144-145. 

Primator ,  president  of  the 
Prague  congregation, 
102. 

“Princess,  The,”  novel  by 
Kompert,  242-243. 

Professions,  Jews  successful 
in,  214. 

Prussia,  Jewish  trade  socie¬ 
ties  in,  210. 

Purim  Fettmilch  celebrated 
by  Jews  of  Frankfort, 
69- 

Pur  im  (Prague)  instituted 
during  the  Thirty  Y ears’ 
War,  95-96. 

Rappaport,  S.  L.,  quoted, 
263. 

Ratisbon,  Ghetto  at,  29. 

Jews  of,  protected,  15. 

Jews  settle  in,  jo. 

Ravenna,  decree  of  council 
of,  40-42. 

Renan,  Ernest,  quoted,  255. 


Residence,  rights  of,  how 
granted  to  Jews,  17-18. 

Reuchlin,  John,  humanist, 
friendly  to  Jews,  63,  64. 

Revolutions,  American  and 
French,  banish  medise- 
valism,  207-208. 

Riga  open  to  Jews,  179. 

Ring,  Max,  Ghetto  novel¬ 
ist,  245. 

Riesser,  Gabriel,  champions 
Jewish  emancipation, 
74- 

quoted,  206. 

Romans,  the,  destro'y  Jeru¬ 
salem,  5. 

Rome,  age  of  Jewish  com¬ 
munity  at,  120. 

Ghettoof,  abolished,  174; 
description  of  the,  125- 
126;  edict  concerning 
the,  158-160 ;  estab¬ 
lished,  27,  44,  122-124; 
government  of,  157- 
158 ;  improved,  162 ; 
limits  of  the,  124;  name 
of  the,  124;  regulations 
about  holding  property 
in  the,  132-135  ;  regula¬ 
tions  of  Pius  V  about 
the,  129-130;  rent  regu¬ 
lated  in  the,  128  ;  syna¬ 
gogues  of  the,  157,  265  ; 
walls  of  the,  demol¬ 
ished,  162-163. 

Jew  badge  abolished  in, 
160. 

Jews  of,  compelled  to 
listen  to  sermons,  143- 
145  ;  conversion  of,  143- 
156;  expelled,  130-131  ; 
favorable  position  of, 
120-121,  136-137;  given 
equal  rights,  1  6  1  ; 
granted  permission  to 


Index. 


2  79 


Rome,  Jews  of,  continued. 
carry  on  trades,  161  ; 
live  in  Transtiberis, 
121 ;  must  ask  permis¬ 
sion  to  remain  in  the 
city,  142-143 ;  permitted 
to  live  outside  of  the 
Ghetto,  161 ;  petition 
Pius  IX,  163-174  ;  privi¬ 
leges  of,  renewed,  130 ; 
receive  charter,  122  ;  re¬ 
leased  from  participa¬ 
tion  in  the  races,  142 ; 
shielded  from  insult, 
140 ;  take  part  in  the 
carnival  races,  141-142  ; 
taxed,  155. 

Jews  permitted  to  live  in, 
129,  1 31 ;  settle  in,  5. 

Rostov  open  to  Jews,  179. 

Rothenburg,  Jewish  tomb¬ 
stones  at,  30. 

Rothschild  family  in  the 
Frankfort  Ghetto,  75. 

home  of,  not  destroyed,  75. 

Rubianus,  Crotus,  author  of 
Epistolcs  Obscurorum 
Virorum ,  65. 

Rudiger  (bishop),  decree  of, 
35-38. 

protects  Jews,  22. 

Rudolph  (emperor)  re¬ 
ceives  Judah  ben  Beza- 
lel,  114. 

Rupert  (emperor)  protects 
Jews  from  excessive 
taxation,  15. 

Russia  ( see  May  laws,  Pale 
of  Settlement,  etc.) 

Ghetto  of,  a  district,  177- 
178. 

Jews  excluded  from  cer¬ 
tain  provinces  of,  178, 
and  from  frontier  of, 
186. 


Jews  of,  effect  of  restric- 
tivejaws  upon,  191-192  ; 
new  laws  against,  266- 
267  ;  privileged  classes 
among  the,  179,  184- 

186 ;  restricted  by  the 
May  laws,  180-181;  suf¬ 
fer  from  phthisis,  186. 

Jews  permitted  to  live  in 
certain  cities  0^178,179. 

Russo-Jewish  committee  in 
London,  180-181. 

Sacher-Masoch,  Ghetto  nov¬ 
elist,  248. 

St.  Cyr  (general)  abolishes 
Jew  badges,  160. 

St.  Petersburg,  artisans 
ejected  from,  187. 

Salerno,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

Samuely,  Nathan,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Sardinia,  Jews  work  in 
mines  of,  6. 

Saxon  Duchies,  Jewish 
trade  societies  in,  21a. 

Saxony.  Jewish  trade  so¬ 
cieties  in,  210. 

Schacherjude ,  the  Jew  of 
popular  conception,  207. 

Schwarzwalder  Dorfge- 

schichten  by  Auerbach, 
227. 

Sebastopol,  Jews  excluded 
from,  178. 

Seelen  fiingerin ,  Ghetto 
character,  228. 

Servi  camera?,  origin  and 
meaning  of,  13-14. 
under  Frederick  II,  15. 
under  Conrad  IV,  15. 

Shadchen .  Ghetto  charac¬ 
ter,  229. 

Shlemihl ,  Ghetto  charac¬ 
ter,  229. 


280  Old  European  Jewries. 


Sicily,  Ghettos  in,  27-28. 

Jews  of,  driven  into 
Ghettos,  28. 

Sixtus  V  (pope)  renews 
privileges  of  the  Jews, 
J3°. 

Spain,  earliest  notice  of 
Jews  in,  6. 

Jews  of,  numerous,  7. 

Speyer,  Ghetto  of,  decree 
concerning  the,  35-38 ; 
established,  30  ;  for  pro¬ 
tection,  35. 

Jews  settle  in,  10. 

Spinoza ,  novel  by  Auer¬ 
bach,  224. 

Steinthal,  H.,  quoted,  230 

Stobbe,  Otto,  quoted,  15. 

Strack,  Hermann  L,.,  dis¬ 
cusses  the  blood  accusa¬ 
tion;  265. 

Strasburg,  Jews  of,  sold,  16. 

Szybow,  scene  of  Meier 
Esofowicz,  248. 

“Tales  of  a  Jews’ Street,” 
novels  by  Kompert, 
231. 

Talmud,  the, enforces  trades 
and  agriculture,  204. 

sharpens  the  wits  of  the 
Jews,  195. 

Tauber,  E.  O.,  Ghetto 
novelist,  245. 

Taurida  open  to  J ews,  1 78. 

Tchernigov  open  to  Jews, 
178. 

population  of,  increased 
by  May  laws,  182. 

Ten  Commandments  re¬ 
spected  by  Jews,  216. 

Theodorus  (archbishop) 
collects  English  canon 
laws,  11. 

Theodosian  Code  mentions 
Jews,  8-9. 


Titus,  arch  of,  1 39-140,  264 
(note  100.) 
deports  Jews,  6. 

“Tourist  und  Cicerone,” 
poem  by  L,.  A.  Frankl, 
264. 

Transtiberis  residence  of 
the  Roman  Jews,  121. 

Trapani,  Ghetto  established 
at,  28. 

Trenderl ,  novel  by  Kom¬ 
pert,  242. 

Treuenberg,  Jacob  von,  94. 

Treves,  Ghetto  at,  29. 

Jews  settle  in,  10. 

Turin,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

Tzarfati,  Joseph,  counselor 
of  Gregory  XIII,  143. 

Ueberlingen,  Ghetto  at,  29. 

Ulm,  early  settlement  of 
Jews  in,  6. 

Universities,  Jews  promi¬ 
nent  in,  214. 

Valencia,  decree  of  council 
of,  42-44. 

Vangiones,  Jews  descended 
from,  9. 

Venice,  Ghetto  established 
at,  27. 

Vicus  Judesorum ,  name  of 
the  Roman  Ghetto,  124. 
original  name  for  Ghet¬ 
tos,  20. 

Visigothic  kings  hostile  to 
Jews,  12. 

Vitebsk  open  to  Jews,  178. 

Vogele  der  Maggid ,  novel 
by  Bernstein,  224. 

Volliynia  open  to  Jews,  178. 

Wenceslaus,  of  Bohemia, 
censures  Jews,  89. 

Wilna  open  to  Jews,  178. 

Witglaff  favors  the  monks 
of  Croyland,  11. 


Index. 


281 


Worms,  date  of  Jewish  set¬ 
tlement  in,  6,  9,  10. 
Jews  of,  sold,  10. 
Zangwill,  Israel,  Ghetto 
novelist,  249-250. 


Zemach  David ,  a  Jewish 
chronicle,  114. 

Zunz,  Leopold,  analyzes  the 
Jewish  jargon,  198-199. 
quoted,  116-117. 


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Compresses  much  in  simple  language.— Baltimore  Sun. 

Though  full  of  sympathy  for  her  own  people,  it  is  not  without  a  sin¬ 
gular  value  for  readers  whose  religious  belief  differs  from  that  of  the 
author. — New  York  Times. 

One  of  the  clearest  and  most  compact  works  of  its  class  produced  in 
modern  times. — New  York  Sun. 

The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America  has  not  only  conferred  a 
favor  upon  all  young  Hebrews,  but  also  upon  all  Gentiles  who  desire  to 
see  the  Jew  as  he  appears  to  himself. — Boston  Herald. 

We  know  of  no  single- volume  history  which  gives  a  better  idea  of  the 
remarkable  part  played  by  the  Jews  in  ancient  and  modern  history.— 
San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

A  succinct,  well-written  history  of  a  wonderful  race. — Buffalo  Courier. 

The  best  hand-book  of  Jewish  history  that  readers  of  any  class  can 
find. — New  York  Herald. 

A  convenient  and  attractive  hand-book  of  Jewish  history. — Clevdand 
Plain  D taler. 

The  work  is  an  admirable  one.  and  as  a  manual  of  Jewish  history  it 
may  be  commended  to  persons  of  every  race  and  creed. — Philadelphia 
Times. 

Altogether  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  another  book  on  this  subject 
containing  so  much  information. — American  (Philadelphia). 

Lady  Magnus’  book  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the  store-house  of  litera¬ 
ture  that  we  already  have  about  the  Jews  —Charleston  ( S .  6'.)  News. 

We  should  like  to  see  this  volume  in  the  library  of  every  school  in  the 
State. — Albany  Argus. 

A  succinct,  helpful  portrayal  of  Jewish  history.— Boston  Post. 


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"THINK  AND  THANK. 


If 


A  Tale  for  the  Young,  Narrating  in  Romantic  Form  the 
Boyhood  of  Sir  Moses  Montefiore. 

WITH  SIX  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

By  SAMUEL  W.  COOPER. 


OPINIONS  OFTHE  PRESS. 

A  graphic  and  interesting  story,  full  of  incident  and  adventure,  with 
an  admirable  spirit  attending  it  consonant  with  the  kindly  and  sweet, 
though  courageous  and  energetic  temper  of  the  distinguished  philan¬ 
thropist. — American  (Philadelphia). 

THINK  AND  THANK  is  a  most  useful  corrective  to  race  pr  -j  ndice.  It 
is  also  deep  y  interesting  as  a  biographical  sketch  of  a  distinguished 
Englishman . — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

A  fine  book  for  hoys  of  any  class  to  read.— Public  Opinion  (Washington). 

It  will  have  especial  interest  for  the  boys  of  his  race,  but  all  school¬ 
boys  can  well  afford  to  read  it  and  profit  by  it. — Albany  Evening  Journal. 

Told  simply  and  well. — New  York  Sun. 

An  excellent  story  for  children. — Indianapolis  Journal. 

The  old  as  well  as  the  young  may  learn  a  lesson  from  it. — Jewish 

Exponent. 

It  is  a  thrilling  story  exceedingly  well  told.— American  Israelite. 

The  hook  is  written  in  a  plain,  simple  style,  and  is  well  adapted  fey 
Sunday-school  libraries.— Jewish  Spectator. 

It  is  one  of  the  very  few  books  in  the  English  language  which  can  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  Jewish  boy  with  the  assurance  of  arousing  and 
maintaining  his  interest.—  Hebrew  Journal. 

Intended  for  the  young,  but  may  well  be  read  by  their  elders.— Detroit 
Free  Press. 

Bright  and  attractive  reading. — Philadelphia  Press. 

THINK  AND  THANK  will  please  boys,  and  it  will  be  found  popular 
in  Sunday-school  libraries. — New  York  Herald. 

The  story  is  a  beautiful  one,  and  gives  a  clear  insight  into  the  circum¬ 
stances,  the  training  and  the  motives  that  gave  impulse  and  energy  to 
the  life-work  of  the  great  philanthropist. — Kansas  City  Times. 

We  should  be  glad  to  know  that  this  little  book  has  a  large  circulation 
among  Gentiles  as  well  as  among  the  “  chosen  people.”  It  has  no  trace 
of  religious  bigotry  about  it,  and  its  perusal  cannot  but  serve  to  make 
Christian  and  Jew  better  known  to  each  other  .—Philadelphia  Telegraph. 


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RABBI  AND  PRIEST. 


A  STORY. 

BY  MILTON  GOLDSMITH. 


OPINIONS  OFTHE  PRESS. 

The  author  has  attempted  to  depict  faithfully  the  customs  and  prac¬ 
tices  of  the  Russian  people  and  government  in  connection  with  the 
Jewish  population  of  that  country.  The  hook  is  a  strong  and  well  writ¬ 
ten  story.  We  read  and  suffer  with  the  sufferers. — Public  Opinion 
(Washington). 

Although  addressed  to  Jews,  with  an  appeal  to  them  to  seek  free¬ 
dom  and  peace  in  America,  it  ought  to  he  read  hy  humane  people  of  all 
races  and  religions.  Mr.  Goldsmith  is  a  master  of  English,  and  his 
pure  style  is  one  of  the  real  pleasures  of  the  story. — Philadelphia  Bulle¬ 
tin. 


The  hook  has  the  merit  of  being  well  written,  is  highly  entertaining, 
and  it  cannot  fail  to  prove  of  interest  to  all  who  may  want  to  acquaint 
themselves  in  the  matter  of  the  condition  of  affairs  that  has  recently 
been  attracting  universal  attention.— San  Francisco  Call. 

Rabbi  and  Priest  has  genuine  worth,  and  is  entitled  to  a  rank 
among  the  foremost  of  its  class. — Minneapolis  Tribune. 

The  writer  tells  his  story  from  the  Jewish  standpoint,  and  tells  it 
well. — St.  Louis  Republic. 

The  descriptions  of  life  in  Russia  are  vivid  and  add  greatly  to  the 
charm  of  the  book .—Buffa&O  Courier. 

A  very  thrilling  story. — Charleston  (.S'.  C.)  News. 

Very  like  the  horrid  tales  that  come  from  unhappy  Russia. — Lew 
Orleans  Picayune. 

The  situations  are  dramatic  ;  the  dialogue  is  spirited. — Jewish  Mes¬ 
senger. 

A  history  of  passing  events  in  an  interesting  form. — Jewish  Tidings. 

Rabbi  and  Priest  will  appeal  to  the  sympathy  of  every  reader  in  its 
touching  simplicity  and  truthfulness. — Jewish  Spectator. 


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SPECIAL  SERIES  No.  1. 


The  Persecution  of  tlie  Jews  in  Russia, 


WITH  A  MAP,  SHOWING  THE  PALE  OF  JEWISH  SETTLEMENT 


Lso,  an  Appendix,  giving  an  Abridged  Summary  of  Laws, 
Special  and  Restrictive,  relating  to  the  Jews  in 
Russia,  brought  down  to  the  year  1890. 


OPINIONS  OFTHi  PRESS, 

The  pamphlet  is  full  of  facts,  and  will  inform  people  very  fully  in 
regard  to  the  basis  of  the  complaints  made  by  Jews  against  Russia. 
We  hope  it  will  be  very  widely  circulated. — Public  Opinion  (Wash¬ 
ington). 

The  laws  and  regulations  governing  Jews  in  Russia,  subjecting  them  to 
severe  oppression,  grievous  restrictions  and  systematic  persecution,  are 
stated  in  condensed  form  with  precise  references,  bespeaking  exactness 
in  complication  and  in  presenting  the  case  of  these  unfortunate  people. 
—Galveston  News. 

This  pamphlet  supplies  information  that  is  much  in  demand,  and 
which  ought  to  be  generally  known  in  enlightened  countries. — Cincin¬ 
nati  Commercial  Gazette. 

Considering  the  present  agitation  upon  the  subject  it  is  a  very  timely 
publication.— Were  Orleans  Picayune. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  most  compact  and  thorough  presentation  ot  the 
Russo-Jewish  question.— American  Israelite. 

Better  adapted  to  the  purpose  of  affording  an  adequate  knowledge  of 
the  issues  involved  in,  and  the  consequences  of,  the  present  great 
crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  Jews  of  Russia,  than  reams  ot  rhetoric.— 
Hebrew  Journal 


Paper, 


Price,  postpaid,  25c, 


SPECIAL  SERIES  No.  2. 


Voegele’g  Mamage/’Othef  Tala? 

By  LOUIS  SCHNABEL. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

A  series  of  nine  well-written  short  stories,  based  upon  love 
and  religion,  which  make  quite  interesting  reading. — Burlington 
Hawkeye. 

A  pamphlet  containing  several  sketches  full  of  high  moral 
principle,  and  of  quite  interesting  developments  of  simple  human 
emergencies. — Public  Opinion  (Washington,  D.  C.). 

Interesting  alike  to  Hebrew  and  Gentile. — Minneapolis  Tribune. 

In  addition  to  being  interesting,  is  written  with  a  purpose, 
and  carries  with  it  a  wholesome  lesson. — San  Francisco  Call. 

This  a  collection  of  brief  stories  of  Jewish  life,  some  of  which 
are  of  great  interest,  while  all  are  well  written. — Charleston  (S.C.) 
News  and  Courier. 

This  little  volume  as  a  whole  is  curious  and  interesting,  aside 
from  its  claims  to  artistic  merit. — American  Bookseller  (New 
York). 

Short  tales  of  Jewish  life  under  the  oppressive  laws  of  Eastern 
Europe,  full  of  minute  detail. — Book  News  (Philadelphia). 

Written  in  delightful  style,  somewhat  in  the  manner  of 
Kompert  and  Bernstein.  ...  To  many  the  booklet  will  be 
a  welcome  visitor  and  be  greatly  relished. — Menorah  Monthly. 

These  stories  are  permeated  with  the  Jewish  spirit  which  is 
characteristic  of  all  Mr.  Schnabel’s  works. — American  Hebrew. 


Paper. 


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CfllbDREJl  OF  THE  GHETTO 

BEING 

PICTURES  OF  A  PECULIAR  PEOPLE. 


BY  I.  ZANGWILL. 


The  art  of  a  Hogarth  or  a  Cruikshank  could  not  have  made  types  of 
character  stand  out  with  greater  force  or  in  bolder  relief  than  has  the 
pen  of  this  author.— Philadelphia  Record. 

It  is  one  of  the  best  pictures  of  Jewish  life  and  thought  that  we  have 
seen  since  the  publication  of  “Daniel  Deronda.” — London  Pall  Mall 
Gazette, 

This  book  is  not  a  mere  mechanical  photographic  reproduction  of  the 
people  it  describes,  but  a  glowing,  vivid  portrayal  of  them,  with  all  the 
pulsating  sympathy  of  one  who  understands  them,  their  thoughts  and 
feelings,  with  all  the  picturesque  fidelity  of  the  artist  who  appreciates 
the  spiritual  significance  of  that  which  he  seeks  to  delineate.— Hebrew 
Journal. 

Its  sketches  of  character  have  the  highest  value.  .  .  .  Not  often 
do  we  note  a  book  so  fresh,  true  and  in  every  way  helpful. — Philadelphia 
Evening  Telegraph. 

A  strong  and  remarkable  book.  It  is  not  easy  to  find  a  parallel  to  it. 
We  do  not  know  of  any  other  novel  which  deals  so  fully  and  so  authori¬ 
tatively  with  Judaea  in  modern  London.— Speaker,  London. 

Among  the  notable  productions  of  the  time.  .  .  .  All  that  is  here 
portrayed  is  unquestionable  truth. — Jewish  Exponent. 

Many  of  the  pictures  will  be  recognized  at  once  by  those  who  have 
visited  London  or  are  at  all  familiar  with  the  life  of  that  city. — Detroit 
Free  Press. 

It  is  a  succession  of  sharply-penned  realistic  portrayals. — Baltimore 
American. 


TWO  VOLUMES. 

Price,  postpaid,  $2.50. 


Bound  in  Cloth 


SOME  JEWISH  WOMEN. 


—  BY  — 


OPINIONS  OP  THE  PRESS 


Moral  purity,  nobility  of  soul,  self-sacrifice,  deep  affection  and  devotion, 
sorrow  and  happiness  all  enter  into  these  biographies,  and  the  interest 
felt  ip  their  perusal  is  added  to  by  the  warmth  and  sympathy  which  the 
author  displays  and  by  his  cultured  and  vigorous  style  of  writing.— 
Philadelphia  Record. 

His  methods  are  at  once  a  simplification  and  expansion  of  Josephus  and 
the  Talin  ud ,  stories  simply  told,  faithful  presentation  of  the  virtues,  and  not 
infrequently  the  vices,  *of  characters  sometimes  legendary,  generally 
real.—  Revo  York  World. 

The  lives  here  given  are  interesting  in  all  cases,  and  are  thrilling  in 
some  cases. — Public  Opinion  (Washington,  D.  C.). 

The  volume  is  one  of  universal  historic  interest,  and  is  a  portrayal  of 
the  early  trials  of  Jewish  women. — Boston  Herald. 

Though  the  chapters  are  brief,  they  are  clearly  the  result  of  deep  and 
thorough  research  that  gives  the  modest  volume  an  historical  and  critical 
value. — Philadelphia  Times. 

It  is  an  altogether  creditable  undertaking  that  the  present  author  has 
brought  to  so  gratifying  a  close — the  silhouette  drawing  of  Biblical 
female  character  against  the  background  of  those  ancient  historic  times. 
— Minneapolis  Tribune. 

Henry  Zirndorf  ranks  high  as  a  student,  thinker  and  writer,  and  this 
little  book  will  go  far  to  encourage  the  study  of  Hebrew  literature. — 
Denver  Republican. 

The  book  is  gracefully  written,  and  has  many  strong  touches  of  char¬ 
acterizations. —  Toledo  Blade. 

The  sketches  are  based  upon  available  history  and  are  written  in  clear 
narrative  style.— Galveston  JS’ews. 

Henry  Zirndorf  has  done  a  piece  of  work  of  much  literary  excellence 
in  “  Some  Jewish  Women.” — St.  Louis  Post-Dispatch. 

It  is  an  attractive  book  in  appearance  and  full  of  curious  biographical 
research. — Baltimore  Sun. 

The  writer  shows  careful  research  and  conscientiousness  in  making 
his  narratives  historically  correct  and  in  giving  to  each  heroine  her  just 
due. — American  Israelite  (Cincinnati). 


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Vol. 


HISTORY  Of  THE  JEWS. 

BY 

PROFESSOR  H.  GRAETZ. 


I.  From  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Death  of  Simon 
the  Maccabee  (135  B.  C.  E.). 

Vol.  II.  From  the  Reign  of  Hyrcanus  to  the  Completion 
of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  (500  C.  E.). 

Vol.  III.  From  the  Completion  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud 
to  the  Banishment  of  the  Jews  from  England  (1290 
C.  E.).  _ 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

Professor  Graetz’s  History  is  universally  accepted  as  a  conscientious 
and  reliable  contribution  to  religious  literature. — Philadelphia  Telegraph. 

Aside  from  bis  value  as  a  historian,  be  makes  bis  pages  charming  by 
all  the  little  side-lights  and  illustrations  which  only  come  at  the  beck 
of  genius. — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

The  writer,  who  is  considered  by  far  the  greatest  of  Jewish  historians, 
is  the  pioneer  in  his  field  of  work— history  without  theology  or  polemics. 

.  .  .  His  monumental  work  promises  to  be  the  standard  by  which 
all  other  Jewish  histories  are  to  be  measured  by  Jews  for  many  years  to 
come. — Baltimore  American. 

Whenever  the  subject  constrains  the  author  to  discuss  the  Christian 
religion,  he  is  animated  by  a  spirit  notunworthy  of  the  philosophic  and 
high-minded  hero  of  Lessing’s  “  Nathan  the  Wise.” — New  York  Sun. 

It  is  an  exhaustive  and  scholarly  work,  for  which  the  student  of  his¬ 
tory  has  reason  to  be  devoutly  thankful.  ...  It  will  be  welcomed 
also  for  the  writer’s  excellent  style  and  for  the  almost  gossipy  way  in 
which  he  turns  aside  from  the  serious  narrative  to  illumine  his  pages 
with  illustrative  descriptions  of  life  and  scenery.— Detroit  Free  Frets. 

One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  compilation  is  its  succinctness  and 
rapidity  of  narrative,  while  at  the  same  time  necessary  detail  is  not 
sacrificed. — Minneapolis  Tribune. 

Whatever  controversies  the  work  may  awaken,  of  its  noble  scholarship 
there  can  be  no  question. — Richmond  Dispatch. 

If  one  desires  to  study  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people  under  the 
direction  of  a  scholar  and  pleasant  writer  who  is  in  sympathy  with  his 
subject  because  he  is  himself  a  Jew,  he  should  resort  to  the  volumes  of 
Graetz. — Revieiv  of  Reviews  (New  York). 


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SABBATH  HOURS. 

THOUGHTS. 

By  LIEBMAN  ADLER. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

Rabbi  Adler  was  a  man  of  strong  and  fertile  mind,  and  his  sermons 
are  eminently  readable.— Sunday  School  Times. 

As  one  turns  from  sermon  to  sermon,  he  gathers  a  wealth  of  precept, 
which,  if  he  would  practice,  he  would  make  both  himself  and  others 
happier.  We  might  quote  from  every  page  some  noble  utterance  or 
sweet  thought  well  worthy  of  the  cherishing  by  either  Jew  or  Christian. 
— Richmond  Dispatch. 

The  topics  discussed  are  in  the  most  instances  practical  in  their 
nature.  All  are  instructive,  and  passages  of  rare  eloquence  are  of  fre¬ 
quent  occurrence. — San  Francisco  Call. 

The  sermons  are  simple  and  careful  studies,  sometimes  of  doctrine, 
but  more  often  of  teaching  and  precept.— Chicago  Times. 

He  combined  scholarly  attainment  with  practical  experience,  and 
these  sermons  cover  a  wide  range  of  subject.  Some  of  them  are  singu¬ 
larly  modern  in  ton q.— Indianapolis  News. 

They  are  modern  sermons,  dealing  with  the  problems  of  the  day,  and 
convey  the  interpretation  which  these  problems  should  receive  in  the 
light  of  the  Old  Testament  history.— Boston  Herald. 

While  this  book  is  not  without  interest  in  those  communities  where 
there  is  no  scarcity  of  religious  teaching  and  influence,  it  cannot  fail  to 
be  particularly  so  in  those  communities  where  there  is  but  little  Jewish 
teaching. — Baltimore  American. 

The  sermons  are  thoughtful  and  earnest  in  tone  and  draw  many  forci¬ 
ble  and  pertinent  lessons  from  the  Old  Testament  records.— Syracuse 
Herald. 

They  are  saturated  with  Bible  lore,  but  every  incident  taken  from  the 
Old  Testament  is  made  to  illustrate  some  truth  in  modern  life. — San 

Francisco  Chronicle. 

They  are  calm  and  conservative,  .  .  .  applicable  in  their  essential 
meaning  to  the  modern  religious  needs  of  Gentile  as  well  as  Jew.  In 
style  they  are  eminently  clear  and  direct.— Review  of  Reviews  (New  York). 

Able,  forcible,  helpful  thoughts  upon  themes  most  essential  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  family,  society  and  the  state.—  Public  Opinion  (Washing¬ 
ton,  I).  C.).  _ 

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OF  THE 

Jewish  Women’s  Congress 

HELD  AT  CHICAGO,  SEPTEMBER,  1893. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


This  meeting  was  held  during  the  first  week  of  September,  and  was 
marked  by  the  presentation  of  some  particularly  interesting  addresses 
and  plans.  This  volume  is  a  complete  report  of  the  sessions.— Chicago 

Times. 

The  collection  in  book  form  of  the  papers  read  at  the  Jewish  Women’s 
Congress  .  .  .  makes  an  interesting  and  valuable  book  of  the  history 
and  affairs  of  the  Jewish  women  of  America  and  Englaud. — St.  Louis 
Post- Dispatch. 

A  handsome  and  valuable  souvenir  of  an  event  of  great  significance 
to  the  people  of  the  Jewish  faith,  and  of  much  interest  and  value  to  in¬ 
telligent  and  well-informed  people  of  all  faiths. — Kansas  City  Tima. 

The  Congress  was  a  branch  of  the  parliament  of  religions  and  was  a 
great  success,  arousing  the  interest  of  Jews  and  Christians  alike,  and 
bringing  together  from  all  parts  of  the  country  women  interested  in 
their  religion,  following  similar  lines  of  work  and  sympathetic  in  ways 
of  thought.  .  .  .  The  papers  in  the  volume  are  all  of  interest. — 
Detroit  Free  Press. 

The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America  has  done  a  good  work  in 
gathering  up  and  issuing  in  a  well-printed  volume  the  “  Papers  of  the 
Jewish  Women’s  Congress.” — Cleveland  Plain-Dealer. 

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